Heartless Hallows
by Spheral3
Summary: A year has passed, and the Death of Dumbledore shocked the gang to no end. Now Harry and Edward must take up the task of destroying the Horcruxs. Everyone returns for one final adventure! They all share one sky, and one one destiny! Hiatus
1. Prolog

PROLOG

by

Killingers

Lightning clashed in the skies above, chaos swirled in the form of ominous black clouds. Rain pounded hard against the grounds of Hogwarts like large tears that fell like blobs.

_No matter what happens…_

The Heartless looked up to the rain, taking in the strange mixture as their bulging, hungry, yellow eyes stared up in confusion. This rain, it wasn't normal, but it felt wonderful… it made them excited and thirsty.

_There's always the sky… the same sky…_

In one seemingly coordinated motion they put their heads down and got as low to the wet earth as possible. They crawled along the forest floor, sensing many hearts just waiting to be harvested. They were silent, stealthy, and as they walked they began to change…

_One sky… one destiny…_

The shadow Heartless' arms began to grow longer, their legs extending and growing toned muscles that bulged underneath the skin. Their antenna grew long, feeling around before them on the forest floor as their eyesight got weaker and weaker until they were blind. Bandages grew from their backs, black as their skin, and wrapped around their eyes tightly as more bound around each ankle and wrist.

_And if our destiny is to die…_

Oh yes, they were close to the grounds now, the rush of excitement made them jerk and twitch more so than normal. They would remind one of damned souls, bandaged and now somehow chained around their middles or across their chests. These evolved Heartless pressed on steadily, an odder deformity beginning to tear at their faces as it became longer and more defined like that of a humans'.

_We defy destiny and reach to the skies them selves for guidance…_

The black flesh ripped, splitting at the lower half of the bandaged face to reveal rows of sharp ivory white teeth, and black rotted toung that glided over the new teeth. They grew excited to the thought of using them and began ganshing them together. The hunger and anticipation grew, sending all the Heartless into a run towards the castle on all fours.

_If darkened clouds of despair hang over our head to block the sky…_

They were getting to the edge of the forest as they ran. The lightning and thunder clashed across the sky and sent static through the air. They made no noise but the pounding of their hands and feet against the wet grass and roots. They could sense the clearing up ahead, victory was at hand, they would surely feast to their hearts content. This army of darkness burst though the trees like bullets from a silencer! Nothing could stop them, not even the wretched Keybearer and the weapon of light! There were too many of them, no, this surely was their victory as they closed in on the castle. The school became only a mile away!

_We'll burst through them to see the rays of truth beam down…_

They could feel that a lone figure stood on the grassy knoll just before the castle. His head was bent down low, hiding the battered and beaten expression on his face. His brunet, spiked, hair was bent due to the rain, giving him a shagged look. His black jumper suit was soaked as well, and he stood hunched over from exoustion. Salty tears mixed with the rain it's self, they fell without the young man noticing it any more. He could hear the Heartless approaching and looked up to them.

From behind, Sora heard hurried footsteps pound against the wet ground, followed by a deafening thunder clap that sharply echoed around them. The brunet was joined by three other boys his age. Sora looked to his left, seeing Edward Elric and Harry Potter, clad in their usual attire that was soaked and dripping by now, then to his left to see Riku with his blind fold over his eyes. He looked ahead of himself as a wall of Heartless ran head on towards them.

_And take destiny…_

The boys waited for their enemy to arrive, and when it seemed they could wait no longer until they themselves would start running, Harry raised his wand high and in front of him, screaming out against the thunderous crashes and the booming footsteps of the heartless. He yelled out a bold cry that was a fierce and angered as a lions. The other three boys gave the same rage filled cry as they faced their enemy, each one holding their weapons high above them before breaking out in a flat out run meet their fate against the Heartless army.

_By the hilt._

Heartless Hallows

Eden: Itallic poem

Deon: Plain text. (See? We can work together... kinda.)


	2. Reflection of the Past

Reflection of the Past

By

Eden

Edward Elric's eyes opened to the dim lighting of his little room. He felt a twinge of claustrophobia when he realized that his feet and head were touching the walls of the closet space he slept in. He closed his eyes, letting out a soft groan as he felt a headache settle in. Wondering what time it was, he carefully sat up and soon remembered that the ceiling was at a sharp slant with the staircase. He turned the tiny handle and the door swung open, allowing the cool air of the house to waft in. Edward welcomed the refreshing chill gladly, it made his night sweats more bearable.

The hallways he looked out of was light blue and very dark. From that sign alone, Edward knew that it was very early in the morning. The sun would be up in an hour or so. He lay back in bed, not bothering to close the door. "It's a feakin' sweat box in here… who the hell sends a guest to a closet?" he grumbled. His left arm draped over his eyes, blocking out the dull yellow light of the lose bulb that hung a foot above him. He peeked one eye out, staring at the dirty white ceiling. "One… two… three…" he counted the spiders that made their home in the little room with him. "… six- wait a second, there were seven of you." He hated having an unwelcome guest like that in his bed, almost as much as milk or getting a shot.

The blond carefully sat up and began searching around his sheets for the seventh spider. "Crap, you better not be hiding in my auto mail you little son of a… oh." He spotted a smudge on the wall with an unmistakable pair of spider legs sticking out from the gooey mess. "Oops… and then there were six." He muttered. Edward turned and climbed out of the small cramped space.

He walked out of the hallway and into the living room. The morning was warm, though it had been a few degrees cooler than the room he slept in. The United Kingdom was humid during the summer though, to which Edward found to be very uncomfortable. He missed the crisp air of his rural little town of Resignbool. He longed to be with those he had left back at his home, Aunt Pinako, his younger brother Alphonse, and Winry. He looked outside the window and at the sleepy neighbor hood. Everyone was asleep, or a least that what Edward had thought. There suddenly came the sound of a clatter, followed by a series of cuss words.

Curious, Edward walked back in to the hallway and up the stairs where the Dursley's and Harry's room were. He got to the top step and saw Harry on his hands and knees, cleaning up what looked like spilled tea and a shattered cup. Harry was bent over, whipping the mess up as he muttered darkly. "Isn't it a bit early for tea?" Edward whispered to him. Harry looked up at Edward, the circles under the boy's eyes told Edward that Harry was very tiered and possibly hadn't slept that night.

"I didn't have any tea." He answered. "Could you fix this before Aunt Petunia finds out?" he asked mildly, pointing to the shattered cup.

"Sure." Edward knelt down.

"No modifying it, either."

"What, you don't like my artistic taste?" He joked.

"God no, and neither will Aunt Petunia." he chuckled.

"But that's all the more reason to." He begged.

"Yea, well if you feel like getting screeched at by all means go right ahead."

"What do I care, she's not my aunt." Edward clapped his hands and set them on the broken shards of the tea cup; soft blue light shown around his hands and the pieces of the porcelain cup as it reformed. It was back to its original form with one slight difference. Harry snorted at the sight of a teacup with a little porcelain doo-lop like that of Edward's.

"You gave it your antenna?" he smiled.

"It gives it style."

"You're such a _git_." He laughed and stood up with the tea-soaked rag in hand.

Both boys walked into Harry's room together. Edward set the silly cup down on Harry's desk and flicked on a light. It was then that Harry noticed the face that was also transmuted onto the cup; the little face stuck out its pink tongue and had a flat expression. He laughed and sat down on the bed. "You're going to get the most hilarious yelling I'll ever hear." He commented as he rubbed his eyes. Edward gave a small shrug and pulled Harry's desk chair towards him. He sat in it looking out the window and to the roof tops of other Muggle homes.

"So where did the tea come from?"

"I don't know, I was just going out to go to the bathroom when my door hit it. Dudly must have put it there as a joke or something." He stood up once more and headed out of the room without another word. Edward continued looking out at the dark morning sky that cast a sort of blue on everything. He kicked his feet up on Harry's bed and let his hands stay folded in his lap. In the silence of the morning, Edward realized that he was tiered. He turned his head and looked over to where Hedwig's cage was. Harry's snowy white owl looked restless in its cage, ready to leave and take flight. The newspaper that lined the owl's cage was from the Daily Prophet, a paper that no one who really knew Harry really trusted anymore. What Edward saw, as he read some of the sentences not covered in owl dung, was Dumbledore's obituary.

Edward's eyes remained on the smiling picture of the old Headmaster, remembering that he was now referred to as _former_ Headmaster. The night that Dumbledore had died was a night that Edward would never forget. He had been with Harry, underneath the invisibility cloak when it had happened…

There had been no screams, no real last words. Edward and Harry had been stunned and silenced by Dumbledore himself. Invisible and unable to move, they were helpless to stop the inevitable of what was about to unfold. There was Draco Malfoy, his wand out and pointed at Dumbledore, but before he could kill him, Snape had been the one to cast the spell. Edward could do nothing, and when he and Harry had reached the ground where the lifeless Dumbledore had fallen, it had been like losing his mother all over again. The feeling of security was snatched away at the sight of the dead headmaster. He had remembered the panic he felt, the sudden urge that could not be stopped as he clapped his hands together. Nina flashed in his mind, so had his mother, and even Alphonse. Dumbledore had been a symbol of hope to the wizarding world and those who he had looked after. He had shoved Harry out of the way, slamming his hands together, only to be stopped inches away from Dumbledore by Sora.

He had felt helpless, but as he reflected upon it he felt childish. He knew by heart the law of Equivalent exchange, he could recite Alchemy's taboo's in his sleep, but that hadn't been enough to settle his mind that night. He knew that Harry had thought the same thing, but what was true for Alchemy was also true for magic. Life only goes one way, to go against it would only bring about chaos.

Edward was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard the bedroom door open once more. Harry walked in and gave out a loud sigh. "Much better." he said. He walked back over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it.

"Up all night?" Edward asked.

"How could you tell?" Harry asked.

"Everything's cluttered, and you found an excuse to clean up a teacup mess rather than leave it for the morning." He took his feet off of the bed and leaned forward, looking out the window once more. "I couldn't really sleep either."

"It's no wonder. That little place is cramped, even for you."

"What does that mean?" he snapped, his eyes darting to Harry. Harry wasn't fazed though and gave a small shrug.

"Nothing really." He said, scratching the back of his head. "Why would you sleep in there anyway?"

"I lost, remember?"

"Oh come on. You can't possibly mean that bet that you and Sora had."

"The no Alchemy for one week, bet? Yea." Edward turned away from Harry and went back to examining the teacup.

"It wasn't your fault, it shouldn't count. Just sleep on the couch."

"I don't go back on a bet."

"You really are a stubborn git." He shook his head. "So why are you up here any way?"

"Nothing. I thought two insomniacs would be better than one."

"Ha…" Harry gave a hollow pretend laugh before once more turning to look out his window.

"Why don't you at least let Hedwig out?" Edward asked. "She looks like she could use the exercise."

"I can't. Have you packed?" he asked, quickly changing the subject. Edward gave a small nod.

"Not much for me to do. I practically live out of a suitcase anyway." Edward stood up, wandering over to Harry's things. Some of it was in boxes, books were lined inside of Harry's bag along with cloths and other necessities. Edward knelt down to the box of seemingly random objects noticing that it was filled with broken and useless quills and things from the past. It had a width of elbow to elbow and length that was less than a foot. Edward's eyes rested on something that was definitely familiar. He picked up what looked like a button one pins on their shirt. The magic button flickered between _Cedric Diggory _and _Potter Stinks._

"Oh man, I remember this." Edward stood up with it. "As soon as Sora saw it he wanted to make you and Riku a button as well, and when he tried it almost blew his fingers off." Harry remained silent still looking out towards the distance. "You remember the huge dragon? About how everyone went crazy when we held that egg up?"

"I remember the dragon biting you leg off, and I held the egg." Harry turned back and stood up, then walked over to Edward, taking the pin from him. "I remember. That was a crazy year…" He tossed it back into the box. Edward watched it fall, then bent down to scrounge through it once more. "Broken glass?"

"Enchanted mirror." Harry corrected. "It broke, but I think the glass still works."

"Works? What's it do?"

"It shows you anyone who's holding the other one... but Sirius was the one who had the other mirror." Harry's footsteps indicated that he was going to sit down once more. Edward didn't look up from the shard of glass and continued to look through it. He was about to set it back when he saw a blue glint of something looking back at him. Surprised he tried to find it, and caught sight of what looked like an eye. As soon as Edward spotted it, the cerulean blue eye vanished, and all Edward could see was the ceiling and his own amber eye staring back at him.

He felt a rush as if he had just spotted a ghost. He blinked in disbelief. It almost looked like Dumbledore's eye, but that was impossible. Edward looked around the room, realizing that the light blue of the morning was beginning to turn red as the sun rose. He looked to Harry, tempted to say something, but decided against it. The last thing his friend needed was to be reminded of the loss of Dumbledore. Edward walked over to Harry, the shard still in his hand.

"You want to hear something funny?" Harry's voice was dull and dry, as if he were and old man or someone who had experienced much more than his years alive would allow. Edward noticed this and said nothing, still standing with the shard gripped gently in his right hand. "I thought… I though I saw something in that little shard you were looking at." Harry raised his gaze to Edward. "Stupid, right? I know… I guess I was just tiered."

"Yea. I guess." Edward gave a forced chuckle as he looked back to the shard. "Maybe you should keep it then?"

"What for?" asked Harry.

"Good… luck?" Edward shrugged.

"You don't believe in luck." Harry sniffed. Regardless, Harry held out his hand for the mirror shard. Edward placed it carefully in Harry's hand, and he took it as he too began examining it.

Edward's eyes trailed over to Hedwig once more, and the newspaper with the obituary on it. "It was pretty crazy last year as well." He commented. There was a pause between them as last year flashed before their eyes once more. Edward cleared his throat and turned his gaze away from the obituary. "You know, with that professor Slughorn and that potions book you had."

"I was a fool." Harry sighed. He gripped the shard and once more looked down at the ground. "Honestly… Hermione was right, I was being an idiot using that thing."

"You couldn't know that it was Snapes, it didn't hurt anything."

"It _was_ Snape's though, it makes it seem... tainted." Harry leaned over, placing the broken glass shard on the table before sitting up right once again. "On top of that how could we not know what Draco was up to?"

"It doesn't matter anymore." Edward argued. "Never mind, forget I said anything." He turned and headed for Harry's door. He opened it a crack before turning back to Harry.

"You know what your problem is?" he asked. Harry looked at him peculiarly. "You think because of that stupid prophecy that everything falls on you."

Harry sat up a bit more, looking as though Edward weren't making any sense.

"It doesn't. Don't delude yourself into thinking that you cause everyone's misery." He and Harry's eyes met, Edwards gaze challenging while Harry's seemed offended and accusing. "I'm going to bed. I suggest you try the same."

"Shaddup." Harry murmured. Edward left the room, closing the door behind him when he left.

Hours later Edward awoke on the Dursley's couch, the sound of clutter was in the air. Edward sat up, turning to see Aunt Petunia dragging a large suitcase down the stairs. Her face was scrunched up in strain as she dragged the large, bound leather suit case down each flight of stairs. Edward heard Mr. Dursley's voice from up the stairs, he sounded as though he were ordering someone around. Edward found both of these people to be unpleasant and terrible hosts. He had expected nothing less, based on Harry's stories. Their constant yelling had given Edward a headache ever since he had gotten off the train with Harry.

Edward sat up, watching as Vernon and his son also dragged their suitcases down the stairs. The Dursleys were leaving in a manner of minuets, their home would be abandon for good, possibly. Edward could feel a sort of unexpected empathy for the Muggle family, they were leaving everything behind for their own safety, because of people and things they could never understand. Unpleasant as they were, they were still confused and in the dark over what was going on.

These thoughts of sympathy were snatched away as soon as Harry's Aunt Petunia gave off a loud shriek from the kitchen. "_My china! My good china!_" she yelled.

Edward gave a grin so wide that Dolores Umbridge her self would be proud.

Harry came downstairs just then. From the way he kept his pace and his cast down expression, Edward could tell that Harry wasn't feeling like he would usually. As soon as Harry had reached the other side of the hall an was but a step into the living room, there came a knock from the door. Harry turned around and walked over to answer the door.

Edward walked over to the hallway entrance to see who the family's caller was. A short little wizard stood there, looking attentive and bright eyed despite his old age. A fluff of white hair rested on top of his head, and a little derby hat. He introduced himself and walked in without waiting to be invited. Edward could not hear the conversation between the strange little man and Harry but he did hear the voice of Mr. Dursley rumble in a different room. Harry walked back over to Edward, nearly passing him before saying a few words. "That man's come to take them to the hiding place."

"Where?" asked Edward. Harry gave a shrug and shook his head.

"Dunno, don't really mind that I do either." He drew in a breath and let it out. "Finally, I may never see them again." The little closet door to their left caught Harry's attention suddenly. He looked to it with a sense of nostalgia, as if every memory of this horrid little space were being replied in his eyes. Edward studied Harry for a moments before looking to the little door himself.

"I'll have my stuff packed and ready soon."

"I never really asked, but, how was it sleeping in there?"

"Cramped." He answered flatly. Harry gave a laugh and then continued past Edward and into the living room. Before he could pass though, the Dursley's walked around the corner together with the small wizard. The tiny wizard looked from the family then back to Harry.

"I'm sure you have many goodbyes to say." The little wizard said. Harry looked to the Dursey's, remembering all the things they had ever done or said to him. He recalled all the arguments, the times Aunt Petunia had refused to feed him, and the bullying Dudley had inflicted. All that was about to never become apart of his life any longer, they were going to leave for good and lead their own lives without him to harass.

"Actually," said Harry, "I don't have much to say."

"Neither do I," said Vernon. Harry and Vernon stood looking to one another, almost a sort of contest to see which would leave first. Edward watched as Vernon Dursely took his leave and moved around Harry to get to the door where the family's things were. Aunt Petunia studied Harry for a few moments before she too followed her husband. Edward noticed the oddly sad look in the woman's eye, a sad look that was hidden by the awkward presence of having nothing to say.

The only ones left were Harry, Edward, and Dudley. Despite all of Harry's stories about Dudley's bullying, and his brutal teasing, Edward hadn't experience any of it. Harry explained that Dudley was a coward when it came to those who used magic or anything not 'normal', but to Edward it seemed as though the pudgy boy was distracted. He hadn't said hardly a word almost the entire summer, and was even more quiet this morning. Edward noticed the strange look Dudley had when he faced Harry, it was a look that almost went against the way his face had been worn. It was an apologetic expression, the kind Edward hadn't seen on someone since he and General Roy met last just after Dumbledore's funeral.

Dudley extended a hand to Harry. "'Suppose you got the tea," he said, quietly. "With mum screamin' and all, I… I figured…"

Harry looked to Dudley, mildly surprised by the thought of the teacup being an expression of Dudley's apology. "Yea, I got it." He said. Harry took Dudley's hand and they shook.

"Well, erm… see you around." He said. Harry gave a small nod to him, and they let go.

"Dudley, get a move on." Yelled Mr. Dursely. Dudley was the last to leave with the little wizard, turning around to look at his cousin once more, he gave a nod, then closed the door behind him. The remaining noise came from outside as Vernon and the rest of the Dursleys all got into the car, the sound of car doors rang out, and finally there was the muffled noise of an engine being turned on. The sounds grew distant, and Edward and Harry were the only ones left inside the empty home.

Edward turned, his hands still shoved wrist deep into his pockets as if this had been an average goodbye. Harry's gaze remained on the door for a few moments longer. Finally he tore his gaze away, meeting Edward's. He noticed the oddly mocking look in his body guard's eye. "What?" Harry asked.

"Nuthin'." He shrugged. Edward turned and began heading into the kitchen. "Hey, now that the 'wicked witch of the house' is gone, lets raid the fridge." Edward offered. Harry couldn't refuse, he hadn't had anything to eat all morning.

"I can't remember the last time I freely went into the fridge and took whatever I wanted." said Harry. He and Edward began to search through the kitchen.

"Really?" asked Edward. "Why's that?" he was on his tip toes as he spoke, reaching for whatever was in the cabinet a few inches above his hand.

"I'd receive another scream fest from Aunt Petunia every time I came in here. It's only been recently that they've treated me half as decent as thy should have." Harry continued browsing the freezer until he found some thing buried under a sheet of freezer burn. "Microwave dinner?" Harry offered.

"Yelch. That crap tastes like plastic. You got anything decent?" Edward continued to scrounge around through cabinet after cabinet, but nothing was worth the effort of eating.

"You know, I still have my stash from last summer…" Harry started.

"_Last_ summer? Do chocolate frogs go bad?" Edward asked, turning.

"Chocolate doesn't go bad for years…" both boys stopped, turning to one another.

"Really…?" asked Edward, a smile forming on his face. "Where's your stash?"

"Can't really remember… somewhere under one of the floorboards of my room— Edward?" he watched his friend clammer out of the kitchen. Harry gave a laugh and followed after him.

Once more they were back in Harry's room. Together, Harry and Edward had found Harry's old stash of BertyBots Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Clover Clusters, and Fudge Flys. Edward sat with a small pile of multi colored beans in his lap. He held up a green and yellow one.

"So why do you keep all of this stuff in a stash?" asked Edward. He turned to face Harry as he answered.

"My Aunt and Uncle use to take these sorts of things away from me if they found it. So I hid it, along with birthday cake, some cards, things that Hermione bakes and then mails over."

Edward looked back to the bean he still held in his right hand. "What's this one?" he asked. Harry gave a small laugh but said nothing. Harry eyed the candy and then turned his head back to Edward.

"Try it."

"I'm not gonna try it. Is it the vomit?"

"Try it."

"Why won't you tell me?" he smiled suspiciously at him. Harry gave him an incriminating look, betraying his false innocents. Harry then gave a laugh and nodded.

"Alright, it's booger." He admitted.

"Okay." And then he popped it in his mouth. Harry watched as Edward's face scrunched up. His brows furrowed, and he finally spat the 'booger' flavored bean out. Harry gave a laugh and turned back to his own small stash in his lap.

"I remember when we all use to do this up in the boys dorm." He said. Harry held up a peppered flavored bean, turning it as if inspecting a fine jewel. "Remember when Sora took all of the wood flavored jellys from everyone and ate them all in one mouth full?"

Edward nodded. "Yea, then I dared Riku to eat the cod flavored ones… speaking of which I don't see any of those around. What happened?"

"Oh, they had to stop making them."

"Why?" asked Edward.

"Erm, Cod-flu, I think." He shrugged to Edward.

"Last year, I didn't know what was going on." Edward admitted. "It seemed like no matter what anyone decided we were always the last to know about anything." He picked up a passion fruit bean and ate it.

Harry gave a small nod. "I remember everything Dumbledore told us… but it doesn't make much sense."

"Why did we have to know anything about Voldemort in order to find the Horcruxes? I mean, knowing his birthday isn't going to help defeat him." They were silent for a few moment before Edward added to his comment. "Well, unless we carve it on his tomb stone." He sniffed.

"That wizard, the one who picked up my relatives from earlier… he said something to me." Harry looked to his lap, recalling the small wizards' words. "He said, 'Good luck, the fait of the wizarding world is on your shoulders.'"

"So?" asked Edward. "It is, right?"

Harry was slow to admit the fact, and merely nodded. "But, if Dumbledore was still alive…"

"Forget it Harry," scolded Edward. Harry raised his gaze to look at Edward who was smiling down at him. He picked up a gummy snake and took a bite out the tail end, making it hiss. "Thinking like that'll get you no where. Besides, Dumbledore did what he did. We shouldn't let it go to waste."

Harry reached over for the other gummy snake that lay on the bed. As if in response to Edward, maybe even symbolizing their new mission, Harry took up the gummy snake and bit the head off. It twitched a couple of times, its bright multi colored body wriggling until finally went still.

The boys spent the rest of the day walking around the home. Harry would tell Edward a few stories of certain objects in the home. Harry even told his favorite stories, the kind where magic would enter the house and turn his Aunt's face red with anger, and his Uncle's, purple. He told Edward the time where Owl mail flooded into the home, all of them were invites to Hogwarts. Edward, in exchange would tell him a few stories about the times he and Alphonse would mess up their mother's floors by drawing transmutation circles al over them in chalk and ink.

Evening crept up on the two young men. Edward dragged his bags out into the living room, Harry did the same with his luggage. Edward had only a small luggage bag with his old automail kit tied around it. Harry had his boxes, his suitcase, and Hedwig's cage. The snowy white owl gave a few sharp chirps that made Edward jump in surprise. He looked to the owl, remembering in that instance why it was he had been spending the summer in the Dursley's home.

888

Brigadier General Mustang strut around the campus of Hogwarts, looking official and upright as usual. His calm, cool air about him would often cause the students to turn and whisper to one another, as if to silently announce that the Flame Alchemist had returned to Hogwarts. Rumors were spread that now that Dumbledore was dead the Muggle General was going to take the Headmaster's place. Those rumors could not have been more wrong.

The General wandered about until he finally found his Major and his assignment. Sora, Riku, Harry, Ron, and Edward had all been hanging about in the court yard. They had been laughing, until Riku spotted the General. Everyone turned, and went silent.

Mustang stood eyeing the boys, as if deciding who he wanted to speak with. His gaze returned to Edward, looking him dead in the eye. "I've orders to take you off the assignment." He stated finally. Edward wouldn't believe what he had heard unless he had seen the General's lips move him self.

"You what?" he asked. Edward rose from the stone bench he had been sitting on.

"I'm relieving you of duty." He said. His tone was calm, like he and Edward were having a light conversation of the whether.

The boys looked from Edward, then back to the General in disbelief. Sora rose to his feet at once, standing directly next to Edward. "Erm, with all due respect, sir, you can't do that!" he defended. Roy turned his gaze looking to him, his expression dull.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because, Harry and Edward are on a different mission! A mission given to them by Dumbledore!" he exclaimed. He was shushed and swatted by the other boys.

Edward stood, feeling the surreal scenario unfold around him. It was vaguely familiar, like a mother calling their child back home before the sun set. His friends stood around him, trying to explain the super secret important mission, but he knew it was time to head back.

Mustang looked down at Edward, the authority and prideful air around him was overwhelming. Edward furrowed his brow at the recently promoted General. "Taking you promotion a little too far, aren't you?" his tone was mocking. General Mustang didn't even flinch.

"You are to come with me to the Furor's office, where I am then to leave you in his custody as his personal assistant." He continued. There was a silent shock that spread through everyone. This time Ron stood up and got on Edward's other side.

"That order is no good!" Ron exclaimed. Once more the General gave no notice to who was speaking, his cold gaze remained on Edward. Ron continued. "I mean, don't you believe what Edward wrote you— you did write him, didn't you? Told him about that whole _map-_thing, right?" he asked. Ron looked from Edward then back to Mustang.

"Forget it, Ron." spoke Riku, "I guess all government and military is corrupt, in any world."

"I beg your pardon?" Mustang, for the first time, took his steely cold gaze away from the Major. He looked to Riku. "Corrupt?" he asked. Riku said nothing and looked right back at him.

"It doesn't matter Riku," Edward spoke up, "I'm not going anywhere."

"The order came straight from the Furor himself."

"I don't care!" Edward barked back. "That monster can do whatever he wants with people like you to follow him." General Roy's eyes narrowed at Edward. "I told you all that I knew, everything I had found, and you're going to turn me in now? All because of that stupid promotion?"

"Are you refusing your order?" asked General Roy. Edward's frustration grew, his temper reaching boiling point.

"Hell yea I refuse!" he snapped.

"Fine," said General Roy.

The boys watched tensely as the reached into his blue coat. Harry stood up just then, right in front of Harry. Edward looked to Harry surprised, as did everyone else. "After everything you heard, even the swarm of Heartless both on your world and on ours, you're going to shoot him?" he asked. Mustang froze, looking to Harry with great annoyance. Harry whipped his wand out and pointed it to Mustang, "I don't think so!"

This had riled the other boys up, and they began taking out their weapons as well, but Mustang continued to reach into his coat and pulled out a folded paper. "As admirable as that speech was, it wasn't necessary." He opened the letter and turned it to the boys so they could read it. The boys recognized Edward's handwriting, then looked back to Mustang confused. Harry stepped away from Edward.

"This letter," continued Mustang, "Was the last confirmation my squad and I needed."

"What do you mean?" Edward asked.

"I can't discuss it here. Even on these ground it's no longer safe." Mustang took a step towards Edward. "The Furor wants you back, your friends are right, it's a trap. You and Harry are getting far too close to the truth behind both of our worlds and it's beginning to shake him."

"What do we do?" asked Sora. Both the General and Edward looked to Sora for a moment, before looking back to one another.

"FullMetal," he addressed, then he did something peculiar. He raised his hand and made his fingers like that of a gun. He placed the 'barrel' of it on Edward's forehead and made a motion as if he were firing the invisible gun. Edward looked to the General peculiarly. "From here on out, your dead." He took a step back. "You can not come back to our world until this war is won, here and back home, understood?"

888

Edward pulled out from his memory of that strange discussion. He was once more standing in the living room of the Dersley's former home. Harry was sitting on the couch, he leaned back on it and let out a breath. Edward did not know how, but it were as if Harry had just read his mind as he turned to him and asked,

"How's it like, being dead and all?"

Edward turned and sat down on the couch next to him. "Not bad… when you die apparently you go to your friend's aunt's house and live in a tiny closet all summer."


	3. Fight or Flight!

Fight or Flight

By

Deon

Both Harry and Edward had waited inside the empty home of the Dursley's. Together they waited for the Order of the Phoenix to come and pick them up and safely transfer them to the acting Headquarters. Neither boys knew exactly how the Order was planning to transfer them, nor did they know who was coming.

Edward and Harry were in the kitchen once more, their things lied next to the front door. Edward sat on the counter, his legs crossed and sitting Indian style as he tended to lose screws on his metal arm. The screwdriver he used had been a present from Winry. Engraved in tiny etches was the message she her self had carved for him. _'Good Luck_', the message read. Edward had read it countless times to himself whenever he'd do his own maintenance. Summer visits with Alphonse and Winry were short but worth the five hour train rides. She'd tune up his automail, get him re-fitted, then he and his brother would fill her in on what they could tell her about their findings. He did not have the chance to see her for an entire year now, and what was worse was the fact that he couldn't even write her. 'Playing dead isn't as easy as lying low…' he thought to himself. He stopped turning the screw and looked to the small, metal screwdriver. 'Winry thinks I'm… hard to believe though, right?' he wondered. Edward turned the little instrument around in his right hand, testing his metal fingers and joints. 'It wouldn't be so bad if I could just write her…'

"_Ed_!"

Caught by surprise, he had nearly leapt right off the counter and fell when he had heard Harry. Edward caught the handle of the cabinet, saving himself from the fall. He looked up, glaring at Harry. "What?" he snapped.

"Now you look up." Harry muttered. "I asked you if that arm of yours ever gets rusted."

"No," Edward replied. "It could but I keep it clean." he paused for a moment, then looked to Harry. He tossed the screwdriver loosely in his hand and returned Harry's innocent look with his own flat expression. "Now why the hell did you ask me that?"

"I dunno." he shrugged. "I can't ask a question?"

"No— I mean, yes— I don't know!"

"You're flustered." Harry said, giving him a knowing smile.

"Am not!" Edward's face was beginning to turn red.

"Were you thinking about Winry again?" Harry asked.

"No!" Ed snapped. "Well, maybe. So what if I was?" but Edward would never hear the answer to that question. Before Harry could speak, both boys suddenly heard the sound of low rumbling, like a far off engine. The noise was like that of a motorbike getting closer and closer. Neither boy would have thought anything of the familiar noise had it not been coming from the back yard. They looked to one another, confusion apparent on their faces. Edward asked in a hushed voice, "Are Death Eaters a magic _bike gang_ now?"

"I don't think so." Harry replied in the same harsh whisper.

They made their way to the Dursley's back door, Harry's wand drawn and Edward's arm already transmuted into that of a blade. With their backs to the wall on either side of the door, they stared into the darkness, and after a few moments they could see figures coming from the shadows. Hagrid was the first form to reveal himself with the help of the house lights through the windows. Relieved, Harry opened the door and walked out with Edward behind him.

"Hagrid, Harry greeted.

"Harry!" came the welcoming voice of Hermione. She ran into sight, her arms wide and drew him into a hug. Harry hugged her back, then she turned and hugged Edward.

"Hey, Hermione." Edward greeted as they hugged. She pulled away and let Sora step forward towards him. Edward noticed that his friend's apearence had changed slightly. His once dark brown hair was some what lighter than before, now a sandy brown shade. He was lean and muscular, but still had that goofy appearance of a pin-head that Edward knew all too well.

Edward transmuted his arm back to normal and asked, "What happened to you?"

Sora gave a small laugh. "Hi to you too, Ed."

"Who else is here?"

"Look around," Sora thumbed. Edward turned, looking around in the yard that had been dappled with house lights through the Durslyes brush. He saw more faces that he recognized. Hagrid, Sora, and Hermione were not alone, those who had joined them were Ron, the twins, Fred and George, Lupin, Tonks, and Madeye Moody. Kingsley Shackleboot, Arthur Weasley, Bill and his fiancé Flure were there as well, along with, someone Edward never thought he'd have to see again, Mundungus Fletcher. Along with these familiar faces Edward noticed the transportation they had arrived on. A few skeletal looking beasts he knew to be Thesterals stood in the moon light and looked at him with their piercing red eyes. Broomsticks were in the hands of a few of the members, and then Edward's eyes rested on the large bike he and Harry had heard. He assumed it was Hagrid's from size alone.

Edward and Sora walked over to Harry, Ron and Alester who were in the midst of discussing how they all would be returning to the Headquarters. He interrupted, butting into the conversation. "So, exactly why is it that we're leaving now?" Sora turned his attention to his friend and began to explain.

"It's like this," Sora started, "You and Harry are the most wanted people in the wizarding world right now,"

"It's nice to be wanted…" Edward muttered in dry sarcasm that made Ron snicker.

"So it's not too safe here anymore for either of you. Harry is protected as long as he still calls this place home."

"You mean that B.S that Harry was talking about? Some kind of 'protection sacrifice spell'?"

"_Charm_, Edward, it's a charm, and it's not _B.S_, it's the only thing right now keeping you safe." Sora pointed out. Edward shrugged, rolling his eyes.

"Spell, Charm, same thing."

"The point is that once Harry's mother's charm wears off, the Death Eaters are going to come straight for him, and they'll discover that you're not really dead if they find you with him. So Madeye decided to get the jump on them before they can corner you both. Even the Ministry has their eye out for you now." Sora finished. Edward nodded, he understood most of what Sora had said, yet something still troubled him.

"Okay, I get that, but wont it look suspicious to see a huge group of people like this just flying around to one place? I thought the point wasn't to call attention to ourselves."

"Well, since Harry's underage and you can't use magic, we kinda had to… improvise."

"Improvise how?" Edward asked.

"That's a good question, FullMuggle." spoke the gruff voice of Alester Moody. The boys turned to see the haggard old man move closer to them. He went around and joined Sora, Ron, and Edward on the other side. "We won't all be flyin' to just one house. We all go in pairs, and fly to different safe houses. Once we're in safe boundaries, we'll take a portkey to the Burrow, throwing the Death Eaters off completely."

"Still a flaw," Edward spoke up. "There's only one Harry and myself, and that's the only two the Death Eaters are going to follow."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong again, FullMuggle," Alsester corrected. He pulled from one of the pockets of his dirtied trench cloak, a flask filled with muddy looking liquid. He needn't say more, for that was when Harry understood the plan completely.

"No!" Harry said loudly, "No way!"

"I told you he'd be like this." said Hermione as she walked closer.

Harry looked around at his friends who stood looking back to him. "This is too dangerous." He said.

"And you don't think we're prepared for it?" Sora asked. "Besides, the Death Eaters think that this plan is going down a week from now, even though they don't know what the plan is." he winked. Harry looked back at them all in disbelief.

"I still refuse. It's too risky with you all looking like me. Death Eaters must be flying around in the sky still, they may go after you."

"You're just going to have to trust us, Harry." Hermione said.

"Yea, and even if you still refuse," started George, who was walking over with the others behind him "You're surrounded by legal, of age wizards, armed with wands. What are you going to say that'll stop us from rippin' out a few hairs right now?" he laughed along with Fred and Tonks.

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked down to Hermione who looked back up at him with a sense of encouragement. Harry saw her expression and knew that arguing was of no use. He had to take the chance his friends had worked so hard to gain.

"It's now or never." Edward spoke up. Harry faced him and nodded back in agreement.

"Good," Alester nodded, "Now if you please." He held out the flask with the top unscrewed and ready.

Harry reached up to his head and plucked out several hairs. He reached over and placed the hairs in the potion mixture. Madeye screwed the top of the flask shut and shook it rapidly. Everyone gathered around Alester Moody and waited patiently for the potion to settle. A few of the friends could see through the glass flask and to the liquid, they watched as it changed color. Slowly, the muddy, gloppy mess turned into a golden liquid that gave off a soft glow.

"Oh, Harry you look much tastier than Goyal." said Hermione. She received several odd looks from the boys. "I mean the potion, it's not so muddy or anything."

"Alright," Alester spoke up. "Get yer drink of it." he pulled several small glasses out from underneath his coat and passed them around. Out of everyone gathered there, only several people received a small shot glass full of golden potion. There was Flure, Hermione, Mundungus, George, Fred, Ron, and lastly, Sora… who then passed it along to Edward.

"Me?" Edward looked from the swirling potion then back to Sora. "Why me?"

"Think about it, who's going to steer the broom stick, me or you? Unless you learned how to fly, I'd say you're perfect to be a 'Harry'." he smiled. Edward gave a small frown but realized Sora was right.

"It won't be all bad being me," Harry had heard Edward and was now giving him a weak smile. "Aside from probably being blown to hell, you'll be a few inches taller."

Edward opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the gruff uproar of Moody calling everyone's attention.

"Alrigh' alrigh', now everyone hurry up and drink." He ordered. With that, all those who held the small glass put it to their lips, lifted, and downed the liquid in one shot. Edward felt the liquid run down his throat like warm butter. In a moment, he suddenly felt his insides wrench and his stomach churn. He dropped the glass, letting it fall to the ground as pain wracked his insides. He felt a hand on his shoulder just then.

"Is this suppose to hurt?" he asked through grit teeth.

"It's only for a little while." spoke the voice of Harry. His voice was strangely caring, like that of Hermione's when she was comforting him. Edward looked back, over his shoulder to a brown haired Harry. There were features that were still feminine that were steadily changing. Edward watched Hermione as the rest of her appearance slowly began to disappear, leaving behind the face of Harry Potter. Edward turned back ahead of him self as his stomach made another lurching feeling, like he was ready to throw up. He closed his eyes, a strange sensation came over his right side.

"I remember the first time I went through it, of course I accidentally became cat-like. Are you sure you're all right?"

Edward looked to his arm, the strange feeling continued to creep down it. He blinked in disbelief, remembering that he wasn't suppose to have any feeling in an arm made of cold metal. Quickly he ripped off one end of his coat and un-did his long, white lined under shirt. His eyes widened as he watched his skin creep up from his shoulder and cling to the metal limbs.

"Woah!" Sora exclaimed. He, Harry, and Ron all gathered around Edward as they watched Edward skin continue to climb up and wrap it's self around the metal. It was bizarre and somewhat sickening in Edward's eyes. Finally, Edward's automail arm was now a human arm of flesh and blood. He stared at it, turning it over and examining every inch of it in stunned silence. He pulled up his left pants leg and saw that it too was also flesh colored, rather than the dull metal grey of his automail. His eyesight was blurry now. He rubbed his eyes and blinked but to no avail. Edward turned back to Harry, looking at him. Harry looked back at Edward, a strange look on his face. Harry obviously didn't like the idea of others dressing to look like him.

"You're as blind as a bat." Edward muttered. He felt someone nudge him, he turned to see it was Alester handing him a pair of glasses that looked just like Harry's. Edward put the glasses on himself, his eye sight cleared up and he looked around.

"Alright, saddle up everyone." Alester called out. "Mount a broom and lets head out."

"Flure gets nervous fling on brooms," said Bill, putting a hand on the Harry-looking Flure's shoulder. "I'm taking her by Thesteral." she gave Bill the most love-sick look that Harry hoped he'd never see on his face. Harry turned his head away from that, only to then turn his attention to the Weasley twins examining something that Harry felt should have been quite private.

"Yep, I thought so." said Fred. George gave a laugh and pulled his pants open a bit more to get a better look down in them.

"It's a down grade, but at least it's temporary." he snickered. Harry turned red in the face with embarrassment and turned away once more.

"Harry," came the deep, friendly voice of Hagrid. "You are Harry, righ'?" he felt the weight of Hagrid's large hand on his shoulder and looked up to him. "You'll be with me, then. That alrgh'?" Harry nodded up to him. He looked to the large motercycle, there was a memory of flying that flashed in his mind. "Last time you were in that, you could fit into the palm of my hand." Hagrid smiled. Harry gathered his rucksack and Hedwigs' cage and fit into the small uncomfortable sidecar. He felt like a child, sitting ground level in the small car while Hagrid and the others seemed to tower over him. Harry wasn't the only one with his travel problems though.

Edward stood facing Sora, his arms crossed and eyeing the boom his friend held. He had changed into street cloths and had packed his usual red coat and other attire into his own suitcase, which was with Harry in the side car. He wore the thick round glasses on his face, and other than looking opposed to flying, he really could have been mistaken for the genuine Harry Potter.

Sora knew it would be hard to coax Edward onto a flying broomstick, and even harder to give him reasons why it was safe. Sora took in a breath and got ready for the argument ahead of them.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Edward asked. Sora nearly swallowed his tongue in surprise.

"Wha… huh?" he blinked.

"I said, are we getting on the flying twig or not?"

"You're _willing_ to get on?"

"Didn't Alester say we need to get a move on? Quit gawking and get this thing to work." He barked. Sora jumped at this then quickly mounted the broom stick.

"Okay, just get on behind me." said Sora. Edward waited a few moments, watching the broom stick lift up in the air by its self. Sora continued to hover for a few moments more, waiting for Edward to approach him. "Come on Ed, just get on it like a horse."

"I don't know which I'd be more comfortable with at this point." he muttered. Edward walked around Sora, still eyeing the broom as if at any moment it would just drop back to the ground. Edward proceeded to grab Sora by the back of his shoulders and push him self up as his leg went over the broom stick . He was seated on it by now, and finding it very hard to get comfortable.

"It takes some getting use to." Sora said.

"No kidding, this thing rides all the way up my…"

"Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be…"

"Right then," Moody called out, "We take off now, the lot of us. We each know where to go? Good. If not, good luck to ya. See ya back at Head Quarters." As soon as he finished speaking, everyone took off at once! Edward and Sora lifted off into the air, racing higher and higher as they went. Edward had no choice but to wrap his arms around Sora's waist so as not to fall off. The wind that rushed past the boys as they accelerated higher and higher began to sting Edward's eyes. He was forced to shut them closed, he gave a shiver as the air around them grew colder.

"Don't worry, we'll be flying straight in no time." Sora called to him. Edward opened his eyes once more, and peered behind him. His eyes widened as he glanced over all the small little houses far, far below them. It was more like a map from where he and Sora were, the height alone made him dizzy.

Suddenly a streak of green light shot past Edward's nose. His eyes widened and he turned to face what had shot at them. Before Edward could get a clear look, Sora veered off to the right and plummeted into the low clouds. White fog surrounded the boys, but the white of the clouds served to reflect the green light that was now suddenly being fired off at them from several directions. Edward gripped tight to Sora as he dove down, and then violently jerked the broom handle back up. "What's going on?" yelled Edward. "I thought you said—"

"I don't know! Just hold tight!" Sora warned. Edward didn't argue with this, and kept his grip tightly around Sora's waist and they tossed and turned in mid air. A Death Eater, his metal mask having deadly green shine about it, pierced through the clouds and towards them. Killing curses were fired, but Sora was quick to counter. He speed up to the Death Eater, summoned his Keyblade to his hand, and like a jouster rammed the Death Eater straight off his broom! "Got 'em!" Sora cried. Edward watched the man fall screaming to his death. He winced at the though of falling from such a height. His thoughts were interrupted by more Death Eaters. They began to circle them, their presence only made certain by the blue glow of their illuminated wands.

"Their circling us, why aren't they trying to kill us?" he wondered.

"They want to see if you're the real one."

"What?"

"If you fire back at them, you're the real one!"

"Who the hell wouldn't fire back?" Edward yelled. He and Sora immediately ducked yet another spell as they sped forward. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Harry has a favorite spell that he always uses, remember?"

"Wait a second, _Expellidarmass_?"

"_Expelliarmus_, and yes!" Sora once more rolled to the left, before doing another barrel roll to the right. Edward held his stomach and fought the urge to hurl.

Sora tilted the broomstick handle upward and climbed higher and higher into the sky. The Death Eaters were sure to follow close behind. Edward realized that they were climbing too high.

"Sora!"

"I know, trust me!" he called back. They were so high now, just barely towards the point of danger. Edward was fighting to catch a breath his chest feeling tight as air began to escape him. Suddenly the broom stopped all together. There was no longer a need to yell, the air that had rushed by their ears had ceased as soon as Sora had stalled, and now Edward knew with a horrifying realization that they were going to free fall. "Hold on." Sora spoke, gently.

"Wait, Sora— NO!" but too late, both boys were falling straight past the Death Eaters. Their heads looked down as the boys passed them, ready to fire at them. Sora held out his key straight in front of himself.

"FIRE!" he yelled. The spell he cast flames to erupt from the keys' end. It shot straight up like dragon's flames and seared the flesh of the Death Eaters. Only two escaped the deadly flame, while other dropped dead from their brooms.

The boys fell through the air still, and Edward felt as though his heart leaping from his throat. Sora's legs still gripped around the wooden broom handle. He set Edward and him self straight on the broom, then willed it to fly once more. They were speeding again, two Death Eaters still on their tail, when suddenly one broke off. Edward turned watching him go. He heard the call the other gave to his fellow.

"He's not the real one! We've found the real one!" and then the other broke off and began flying away.

"They've found him! We have to turn back and follow!" Edward yelled out.

"We can't Moody told us—"

"Forget what Moddy said! We have to follow them!"

"Okay, okay." Sora turned sharply and headed in the direction the Death Eaters went.

They sped through the chilly night sky, racing after the Death Eaters. They were flying for miles and miles, hoping that they weren't already too late. Minuets later they spotted Hagrid's large motorcycle soaring through the sky. Black smoke was fuming through the back pipes with small purple sparks shooting out of it. Death Eaters swarmed the two, but the boys were quick to the rescue. Sora tilted the handle down and speed towards them. Sora aimed his Keyblade and fired off a few _Blizzar_ spells. Edward turned on the broom so he was facing backwards as they flew. He slammed his hands together; wind like that of a small dust devil surrounded him violently, little shocks of lightning flashed and wound around before disappearing as the wind kicked up.

"Fly as close as you can to one!" Edward called back.

"Then what?"

"Hold on!"

With that order, Sora rolled violently to the right and ended up right next to a very surprised Death Eater. Edward's right hand grabbed the Death Eater by the silver mask and sent a shockwave of electricity through his body. The strong current flooded through the Death Eater, causing him to convulse uncontrollably in mid air. His broomstick suddenly cracked in half, and the dark wizard fell silently to the earth like a sack of potatoes.

Another Death Eater had seen the horrifying display and shrieked. "It's the Alchemist!"

"What was that?" Sora exclaimed. "Magic?"

"I shocked the guy, cracked his broom in half."

"How?" As soon as he asked another spell had been sent their way. Edward grabbed Sora and shifted all his weight to the left. They spun like a log on water in mid air. Both boys hung upside down, still flying through the cold damp air. "Whatever you just did, do it again! Ready?"

"Go!" Edward answered.

A Death Eater began racing towards the boys from behind. He began shooting spells. Lights passed by the boys and came dangerously close to hitting them. Sora tilted the boom up and went in a full 360 degree arc in the air. For a second time Edward resisted the urge to scream or vomit. When his head stopped spinning he instantly recognized who he was next to; the same man who had screamed out his identity! His right arm reached out and swiped at the Death Eater's shoulder. Like the one before, he too shook uncontrollably and then went still and slid off the broom stick.

"Edward! Sora!" Harry called to them. Sora turned and flew next to the motorcycle. Harry practically leaned out of the buggy as he looked to them in disbelief. "What are you doing here? Get away!"

Edward frowned. "Hey, we just saved your—"

"Duck!" Harry leaned out and pulled Edward and Sora down by the collars. A jet of green light flew directly over them. They all turned and looked behind them. Dark, tattered shrouds seemed to fly through the air like a stoarm cloud. The bald surface of Voldemort's corpse-colored head glinted in the moonlight, his piercing red eyes bore into Edwards when he had spotted him.

Stunned, Edward looked back in disbelief. Voldemort was gliding through the air without the aid of broom or Thesteral, he was flying like smoke on the wind, his snake like face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raised his wand and let out a curse.

Sora steered off to the right, they avoided the curse unharmed. Harry rose up and looked behind him now, and Voldemort spotted him. He looked from one Potter to the other unsure. He waved his wand willing to kill one or the other. Harry waved is wand and cast a spell at Voldemort.

"_Expelliarmus_!" he cried out! The spell was defected, but Harry had done what Voldemort wanted. The Dark Lord raised his wand at him next and let out the Killing curse once more.

Hagrid's deep voice could be heard over the sound of wind whipping past the boy's ears. "Run fer it, boys!" and with that Hagrid had flipped open a small flip switch on the handle of his bike. The bike sputtered, then gave out what sounded like a dragon's roar. Purple flames shot out from the exaughts pipe, and suddenly both Harry and Hagrid were racing faster than Sora could fly on a broom stick. Voldemort flew after the motorcycle, but when he passed the boys Edward had reached out and grabbed onto Voldemort's tattered dark robes. He was yanked right from where he sat on the broom and was holding onto Voldemort for dear life. Voldemort glided through the air for a few moments until he noticed the extra weight. Edward and Voldemort continued speeding forward, Sora right on their tail incase Edward were to fall off.

"You!" Voldemort snarled. Edward looked from Harry and Hagrid's bike up to the Dark Lord.

"That's right, this fight is between you and me now!" he wound the robe around his arm to hold him in place, but was suddenly cursed. He looked over to his right arm, seeing it cut clean down the middle of his forearm! He had been splinched.

"What do you expect to do, you worm? You can't fly, you can't perform magic, and now you're already wounded before the fight's begun!" Voldemort's bare foot slammed right into Edward's face, breaking the imitation Potter glasses in half. They fell away from him, the glass had even cut into Edward's face. He glared back up at Voldemort who let out another laugh that quieted to a hiss. Edward swung his arm but Voldemort had cast a curse on him once more. Edward yelled as the Crutatious curse wracked his body horribly. "I'm quite enjoying this." he yelled out, sounding half-mad. "Were you actually Potter I'd be enjoying this even more!" he once more cast the Unforgivable Curse on him, and Edward yelled out in pain. White lights danced before Edward's eyes as the pain grew unbearable. He grit his teeth, determined to hold on. He felt yet another vicious kick to the face and was sent flying off of Voldemort and through the air, the robe that wrapped around his arm ripped off as he fell. He was caught by Sora, who held the Alchemist by his hand. Unfortunately, Sora's grasp on Edward's bloody hand was slipping. Edward looked up to Sora weakly, blood flecking his face as it fell. For the first time Sora had come to a dead halt on the broom stick and was desperately gripping both the broom and Edward's slippery hand.

Seeing this, Voldemort gave off another laugh and turned to pursue the real Harry Potter. Edward watched him fly off and cursed loudly. He looked back up to Sora and grabbed him with his other hand.

"Don't let go!" said Edward.

"I won't! I promise."

"Fly after him, now!"

Sora paused, unsure of what he heard, but realized that he was speaking with the same stubborn, hard headed Alchemist, and gave out a tiered breath. "Are you crazy? I can barely hold on to you as it is!"

"Move it!"

"What are you planning on doing?"

"Just trust me!" he pleaded. There was urgency in Edwards eyes that seemed desperate. It was odd how it wasn't for his own life. Sora nodded and then began flying, slow at first, then he sped up.

"Now what's the big hurry?" Sora said. "Harry and Hagrid are probably already at the safety point."

"Hagrid's side car is going to fall at any moment, with Harry in it." said Edward. "It was falling apart already, I needed a better look to be sure."

"That's why you stupidly grabbed onto Voldemort?" Sora asked. He winced as Edward slipped a little. "Ed, you can't fix it with Alchemy, Voldemort will know it's you, and then it'll blow you whole 'dead' cover!"

"Keep going Sora, trust me."

Sora held on as best he could as they flew through the air. His heart raced and the fear of letting go kept his grip on Edward tight. They could once more see where Harry and

Hagrid were on the motorcycle, Voldemort right behind them with winged Heartless on either side. They looked like stuffed gargoyles with long deadly claws. They were like something out of a Tim Burton film, their bodies were stitched all over, and their wings were like that of a bat's.

Edward and Sora began to fly closer to them, but it wasn't enough. "Can't this thing go any faster?" Edward demanded. "The buggy already looks ripped in the middle!"

Sora frowned, wanting to argue that Edward might slip if he went any faster, but he knew Edward wouldn't care. Sora glided through the air, speeding past the Gargoyal Heartless and right underneath Voldemort. Sora glided just above Hagrid's bike, then let Edward go.

"Edward?" both Harry and Hagrid exclaimed.

"You're arm!" Harry gasped, seeing how much blood stained Edward's skin. The sleek silver surface of Edward metallic arm was starting to show through the fleshy tint of the imitation arm. Edward once or twice saw a blond hair whip past his face, and he realized that the Polyjuice potion was starting to wear off. "What happened?" Harry asked. Edward didn't answer him, and despite feeling horribly ill, he examined the buggy. It was just barely attached by a few bolts and shaking dangerously in the wind. In an attempt to mend it, he clapped his hands and set them to the buggy of the motorcycle, but Harry stopped him. He grabbed Edward's arm. "You can't!"

"Sora's distracting him, don't worry." And he continued. As the buggy began to repair he saw Harry's hand resting over his scar, he knew that Voldemort's presence was causing Harry pain.

"What happened to this thing, it's like someone already tried to blast it off." Edward asked. Both Harry and Edward turned as they heard Hagrid's whistling over the wind. Ed's expression fell and he looked back to the buggy.

Spells flew through the air at them, but Sora was holding the Heartless and Voldemort back with his Keyblade. He wound around the Dark wizard, but when he struck the attack rebounded and hit Sora twice as much. Voldemort laughed, and Sora realized that he had placed a rebounding charm on himself. Sora flew backwards on the broom, and shot off spells in Voldemort's direction The Heartless flew around Harry, Edward and Hagrid. Hagrid did his best, beating the winged creatures with his umbrella as Harry cast spells.

Edward finished patching up the buggy. He put a hand to his head, feeling horribly dizzy and cold.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. Edward couldn't even speak before a spell had suddenly hit him square in the chest! "Edward!" he heard Harry call to him as the Curtatious curse once more wracked his body. Harry grabbed onto Edward's arm, but he could not grip the bloody metal. Edward slipped away from Harry's grasp and fell off the bike. Harry starched his arm out, resisting the urge to call out his friends name as he watched him fall.

Edward fell through the air, his vision going in and out as pain wracked his body. It was becoming increasingly difficult to breath, his chest felt sore with every breath. Blood streamed up in the sky above him. His vision blurred, and for a moment the sky was like a crimson glow as the blood hit the moonlight. All thought finally left him, and he closed his eyes, slipping into an unconscious state as he fell. The last thing Edward heard before everything in his mind shut down was the sound of a loud crack, followed by that of an enraged yell, then nothing.

888

The air around Edward no longer stung his face nor gripped his body in a chilling embrace. Everything was still, but dark. He took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly as he carefully opened his eyes. He looked about the dark room, his hand tightened around the covers that lay over him. He sat up, turning his head and looked up to the couch where he saw a figure laying. Edward felt horribly sore as he lifted himself from the floor where he had lain. He walked over to the couch, peeking over to see who it was. Harry lay face up as he slept, his glasses folded and on the night stand. Edward stepped away from him, then continued looking around the room for Sora and Hagrid. When he didn't see them, he let out a breath and realized that if he didn't at least sit down he'd grow achy. He sat back on the covers and looked to his hands. Once more his right arm had reverted back to its metallic state, leaving not even a scratch or any sign that he had lost any blood. Still, he remembered how real the skin had been. So real that he half felt, he had felt with his own fingers the wooden handle on the broom, the cold of the night sky as they flew, and then the pain of a splinching spell slicing through his arm. He let out a small laugh as he remembered what a dumb move that had been. In all honesty, he had reacted out of habit rather than thought at that time. He breathed out and lay back on the covers feeling very tiered. The curiosity of his surroundings rose in his mind, but he didn't bother to address them. He was thankful that he was still alive… somehow. "I'm never riding those flying twigs ever again…"

The door to the room opened slowly. Edward jumped when he heard the creaky door and looked over. A man Edward had never seen before stood in the doorway, looking to Edward with a tiered expression. He haired fair hair and was big bellied. He looked over to Harry anxiously and wandered closer to the sleeping boy. Edward watched him quietly, to tiered to even start a conversation with this man. He didn't realize that he was staring until the man cleared his throat.

"Feeling better?" he asked him. Edward gave a nod but remained silent. Edward's eyes wandered over to Harry as he watched him, he wondered how they had wound up here and why Harry had blood around his mouth. The man must have noticed Edward once more for he spoke of Harry's injuries. "Potters fine, a broken bone or two and he's missing a tooth is all." Edward looked back up to the man, the expression on his face was tiered and yet there was the faintest smile present on his lips.

Harry awoke just then, giving out a long tiered moan and putting a hand to his scar. "Hagrid…?" he opened his eyes, seeing the blurry figures of Edward and a stranger who sat on the couch next to him.

"Hagrid's fine, son," he said. "Is there anything else broken? I've fixed your ribs, your tooth and your arm. I'm Ted, by the way." He looked over and gave Edward a nod, then nodded back to Harry as well. "Ted Tonks, Dora's father."

"Dora?" Edward spoke up, his voice a bit raspy from all the yelling.

"I suppose she still goes by the name Tonks, then?" Ted asked. Edward then realized whom he was talking about and gave a nod in return. "I spoke to the young lad named Sora. He said you had been chased by Death Eaters… good to see our protective charms are still working." He looked over to Edward. "You were in a right state as well, half-dead and very cold. We gave you a potion for the loss of blood." To this, Edward merely blinked back at him and gave a slow nod. The last few moments of falling through the air flashed before his eyes, the blurred vision and the blood that trailed up above him. The Crimson sky, it was an eerie thought that gave him chills. Pulling himself away from the thought, he listened back in on Harry and Ted Tonks.

Harry was sitting up, attempting to leave the couch. Ted put a hand on his shoulder, informing him that it was best to stay in the bed until he was completely healed. Harry shook his head and murmured something about Hagrid that Edward didn't quite catch. As if on queue, Edward jumped when he heard a loud bang of a door opening. Hagrid stood in the door way before limping over. His face was covered in mud and blood, his shoes left a trail of it as he limped toward Harry. He managed to knock over two delicate coffee tables before reaching the boys.

"Harry!" He pulled him into a hug. Hagrid's grip was so strong, it threatened to crack Harry's newly repaired ribs. "Blimy Harry, how'd you get out of there, I thought we were all gonners! Where's Ed?" he looked around. Edward's posture sagged as he realized he couldn't be seen where he was sitting. He stood just then, going into Hagrid's field of vision. "There ya are!" Edward held back the urge to yell and merely let out a breath.

"Everyone's awake!" They turned to see Sora walking into the room. He was being followed by someone. As Sora walked closer into the room, Harry saw who was coming from the darkness of the next room.

"You—" he thrust a hand into his pocket, alarming both Sora and Hagrid. Edward was already on his feet, his hands up and ready to fight.

"You're wand is over there, son," came the voice of Ted, "and that's my wife you two are glaring at."

"Oh, I'm— I'm sorry" Harry lay back on the couch, remembering that Tonk's mother was related to Bellatrix. As she stepped into the room her resemblance to her sister became much less pronounced. Her hair was light and soft, her eyes wider and held great kindness in them. Edward sat back down, regretting that he had stood up so fast. He sat, wishing to settle the dizzy spell quickly.

Ted Tonks walked over to his wife as Sora walked next to Edward and sat on the covers with him.

"How ya feel?" he asked.

"Not bad for a guy who almost died. You?"

Sora gave a shrug as he smiled. "Can't complain. I almost didn't catch you though."

"Hold on… you weren't wearing those cloths before." Edward looked Sora over. He was no longer in his black jumpsuit, but now in cloths that seemed a bit to big for him.

"Yea well… when you fell off the bike I raced to catch you. You were falling pretty fast, and I didn't notice until it was too late. So I went speeding after you. When I finally caught you I lost control of the broom and we went spinning out of control!"

"How are we not dead?" He asked, disturbed. Sora put a hand to the back of his head and scratched it.

"Well, there was a giant mud puddle… so we landed in that. _Ka-sploosh_!" he waved his arms to exaggerate the sound he made.

Edward and Sora's attention were directed to Ted and his wife who for some reason had gone pale. Harry looked to them apologetically but said nothing. Ted let his wife put her head in his shoulder as he tried to sooth her. "It's alright, dear, Dora's been in a lot of tight spots, she knows her stuff." He looked back to Harry, "you'll let her know to… to contact us… when she can."

"Yea," Harry nodded. "I'll tell her." he stood up and went over to a muddy rucksack. Edward got up as well, seeing his own muddy suitcase with Harry's things. He picked it up and examined it, frowning as he opened it to see the muddy slosh of his cloths and books. He bit back his irritation and turned back to Ted Tonks.

"We were going to leave here by Portkey." he informed.

"Yes, it's in the back." Ted nodded. He and his wife lead everyone to the bedroom, where on the desk with a large mirror was a small silver brush. "There it is," he pointed to the small brush.

"Thank you for mending our wounds," Sora spoke up.

"And I'll let Dora— Tonks, know to contact you."

"Wait a minuet Harry," Hagrid looked about. "Where's Hedwig?"

Harry looked up to Hagrid as he recalled his snowy white owl. "She… she got hit." He said. Sora let out a soft 'oh' and looked down. Hagrid reached out and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Never mind Harry, Never mind. She lived a good, long—"

"Hagrid," Sora warned, pointing to the Portkey as it glowed.

"Righ', all together now. Don't want anyone left behind."

They all placed a finger on the Portkey, and Edward felt the familiar sensation of being pulled at the navel. They sped through the blurs and light, only to end up in the yard of the Burrow. Edward miraculously gain his footing and caught Sora as he almost fell to the ground. Harry looked around and saw Mrs. Weasley and Ginny standing there looking to them.

"Harry, Edward— you are the real boys right? What happened? Where are the others?" cried Mrs. Weasley.

"What do you mean? Isn't anyone back yet?" asked Edward looking around.

The quiet fright on Mrs. Weasley's face answered the question well enough. Edward turned back and saw a rusty old oil can lying on the ground next to him.

"That's the Portkey Fred and dad were suppose to have." said Ginny to Edward. "And other there, that bike wheel, that was suppose to be Ron and Tonks." Edward looked back to Mrs. Weasley as Harry tried to explain. He was flustered as he spoke, recounting the events that happened.

"We were ambushed, they were there before we really even got started! They knew— someone must have told them— Hagrid and I were surrounded— the only others I saw were Sora and Ed— then Voldemort appeared— I'm so sorry I don't know."

"Thank goodness you're safe!" she drew Harry into a tight hug. Edward could see the worry on her face, even as she hugged Harry. "Alright boys, inside." She instructed Edward and Sora. "Riku's waiting for you Sora."

"Thanks." He nodded to her. Edward followed Sora inside but noticed that Harry wasn't following. He turned back, watching Harry as he kept his gaze on the forest. He decided not to call to him, he knew that Harry felt responsible, though he couldn't figure out why. Harry had a guilt complex that Edward just couldn't understand about him. He shook his head then when into the house, following Sora.

"You think that guy would give it a rest already. He should be the one inside with us." Edward spoke up. Sora looked back to him as they walked through the kitchen.

"You think so?" They paused, Edward looking to him confused.

"What do you mean?"

Sora shook his head, a small smile tracing his lips. He looked back outwards to the back yard where Harry and the others continued to wait diligently. "Harry knows that this mission is up to him. He relies on himself and hates getting other people involved when it means life or death."

"Remind you of anyone?"

"Al!" Edward exclaimed upon hearing his younger brother's voice. He dashed into the living room and turned the corner. Sitting on one of the Weasly's wooden chairs was the large grey suit of armor Edward knew to be his brother. "Alphonse! How'd you— When did you— Why are you here?" he exclaimed going over to him.

"Colonel Mustang sent me here." He replied. His voice was the same tempered and polite tone that Edward had always known. A year and nearly a summer had gone by without the brothers seeing or speaking to one another. Suddenly that calm disposition that Alphonse displayed vanished! He got up and lunged at his brother, taking him into tight hug. "Brother!" he exclaimed.

"Oww! Oww! AL! You're crushing my spine!"

"I thought you were dead, everyone back home thinks that! We had a funeral and everything! Winry was so sad— I'm so glad you're alive! Brother!"

"W-Winry?" Edward gasped. He pushed away from Alphonse, who finally released him. Edward took in a large breath, finally free from the tight grip. "Whi-Winry, does she know I'm alive?" he asked.

The fearsome metal helmet looked down at Edward, and slowly shook his head. "No. I couldn't' tell her, Colonel Roy wouldn't let me. Well… actually it's Lt. Colonel Roy."

"He was demoted?"

"No thanks to you." Came yet another voice from behind Edward.

"Lt. Colonel." Alphonse addressed, looking over to him. Edward turned, seeing the few missing colored badges on the recently demoted colonel's jacket. He looked back up at him, arching an eyebrow.

"If that's the case then what are you doing here?" he asked. Mustang sighed and found a place to sit down.

"Hello to you to, Edward." He said. "Since you're no longer the FullMetal Alchemist." He gave a small laugh at that, but Edward frowned.

"I'm still alive, I'm still the FullMetal." He argued.

"No kidding?" Mustang chuckled. "Not to mention when you died you were promoted to Colonel FullMetal Alchemist."

"So…" there was a pause between them as Edward thought about the difference in rank. A wide smile spread across his face as he looked to Mustang. He wandered closer to him, staring him in the eye when the Lt. Colonel noticed Edward. "That means I'm a rank above you!" the vicious smile traced across his face.

"No one cares because you're dead!" Mustang argued, practically yelling.

"That's no fun…" Mustang smiled at his own small victory as Alphonse laughed. Edward sighed and looked from Mustang and back to Alphonse. "So what are you two doing here anyway?"

"I'm on an official business from the Military." Mustang announced.

"Which is?"

"I've come to for an international… interplanetary, I should say, link between our two governments." His tone was grim as he spoke. "Needless to say I have a very bad feeling about this."

"The Lt. Colonel…" the slight twitch Mustang had made distracted the brothers for a moment before Alphonse continued. "was sent here to gather information about the Wizarding Ministry and begin to lead…"

"Aourourers. Their the equivalent to Alchemists, though their called a Dark Wizard hunters." Mustang finished.

"And you're suppose to lead them? In what?"

"That I don't know. I've been told to wait at the Ministry until further orders."

A commotion could be heard coming from outside. The sound of people rushing in alerted everyone in the living room, who stood at attention and could only watch as Harry and Lupin walked in with a limp and lifeless George in their arms. Harry carried him by the feet with Lupin by the arms. They set the bloody twin on the couch, and when Lupin pulled away Edward saw that George was missing an ear. Alphonse gasped at the sight. Mrs. Weasly fell on George and began to sob over his body.

Just then Edward and Harry were grabbed from behind and dragged away by Lupin. Edward struggled and regained his footing once he and Harry were released. They turned looking to Lupin who grabbed Harry by the shoulders firmly. "What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" he asked, giving him a small shake. "Answer me!"

"A— a grindylow tank, wasn't it?" he asked, alarmed. Lupin let go of him and pointed his wand at Edward.

"What the _hell_?" Edward yelled.

"You're flea sized." He said coolly.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING FLEA SIZED— HALF-PINT MIDGET!?" he yelled. Harry knew instantly to go behind Edward and hold him back from leaping onto Lupin.

"I'm sorry, boys but I had to be sure it was really you." Lupin apologized.

"What— whatever for?" Harry asked, still holding Edward back.

"The Death Eaters knew, someone leaked the information from the inside and I had to check if you weren't Death Eaters in disguise."

"Wasn't there a better way?" Edward yelled again. Lupin shook his head to him, seeming tired. Edward stopped struggling and just continued to mutter darkly under his breath. Harry released him and looked to Lupin, but before he could speak there came another voice.

"Reamus, it's Voldemort, he can…"

"Fly, I know." said Harry. He looked up to Lupin. "Ed and I, we saw him."

"So that's why Voldemort left." said Kingsly, aghast.

"What happened boys, how did you meet up with Voldemort?" Lupin asked. Harry began telling the story of how he and Hagrid were flying away from Death Eaters, and were suddenly ambushed. He had seen Stan the Knight Bus driver and had disarmed him. Lupin let out a groan. "Harry the time for disarming has passed."

"No kidding!" said Edward. "You could have at least stunned him."

"If I had stunned him it would have been no different then what you were doing."

"What was he doing?" Lupin asked.

"He and Sora battered the Death Eaters off their brooms."

"Good lad."

"No," said Harry. "Stan wasn't in his right mind, he was under the Imperious curse for sure."

"Never mind." Lupin sighed. "It's passed."

There was yet another commotion from the living room, Bill, Flure and Mrs. Weasley entered. For the first time, Edward noticed Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Tonks had all returned. Feeling thankful that everyone was safe he closed his eyes and gave a sigh of relief. Upon opening his eyes he noticed that Bill and Flure wore grim and tearful expressions.

"What's wrong?" Hermione piped up. "Is everything—"

"Alester," said Bill. "Dead." A heavy feeling set over the room as everyone went silent. Sora and Riku came down stairs and looked around the room, feeling the atmosphere. Sora looked back to Riku, and they entered room quietly knowing something was up.

"Are… are you sure?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Flure and I saw it. Voldemort— he can fly— chased after them and Madeye. He was right when he said Voldemort would go after the Harry with the strongest guardian. Mud abandon him though, and Voldemort killed…" he went silent.

It didn't' seem to register with Edward at first. Alester Moody, Madeye, dead, it was almost farfetched in his mind. Then again, he reminded himself, the news of Hughes death felt exactly the same. He looked down, a strange sadness coming over him, yet at the same time he gave a soft smile. "I can't believe I'm actually going to miss the old-geezer." He said. Then he was reminded that Mudungus Fletcher had run, he had panicked at the last moment and ran away. In Edward's eye, that had been unforgivable. He made his hand into a fist and gripped it, then looked over to Harry who seemed stunned by the news still.

"I'll get the firewhisky." said Mrs. Weasley. She disappeared into the kitchen leaving everyone in their silence. Harry sat down on the couch , next to Fred and George as he waited. Edward remained standing as Lt. Colonel Roy rose from his chair and walked into the kitchen to help her. Edward looked past him and to Alphonse, who sat in the chiar, seemingly confused by what was going on. Edward resolved to going over to him, but after Mrs. Weasley came back with the fire whisky.

The Lt. Colonel and Mrs. Weasley came back with glasses in hand. She poured and handed them out. Edward was surprised to be handed a cup by Mrs. Weasley herself. "It's a custom," she said gently, "to mourn for those who aren't with us." And then she passed him and continued onward over to Hermione and Ron. Edward looked down at the clear light-brown drink thoughtfully, thinking of those he knew and had died in the past. He had a strange feeling that there would be more of these feelings to come as the year war went on.

Sora and Riku were handed a glass as well, who took it graciously and watched their hostess pass by them. "Madeye… hard to believe." Riku murmured. Sora turned back to look at him. They were both seated on the stair way. "It's strange…" he said looking to the glass.

"What is?" Sora asked.

"I feel… oddly out of place here." He looked around at all the sullen faces who waited to drink, over to Tonks who sobbed into a handkerchief and to Hagrid who was dabbing his eyes with his own. "Like we're rudely intrusive on a large family's grief…" he looked back to Sora, who was giving him a puzzled look.

"He was our friend too, right?" Sora's question was so laughably simple to Riku that it was almost irritating. He gave a nod to Sora and looked back out at everyone as the last cup was handed out.

"Yea," he sighed, "he was."

"Moody." Lupin announced, lifting his glass.

"Moody." Echoed everyone in the room. They all lifted their own glasses and downed the fire whiskey. Sora found the intoxicating liquid to leave a burning sensation on his throat as it went down. He took the glass away from his lips and looked back down to it. He lifted his gaze to see Hermione beckoning him forward toward the other small couch. He and Riku both walked over and sat down. Sora relaxed on the arm rest just above her while Riku sat leaned against it. She placed a hand on Riku's arm and patted it looking down to him.

"No need to stand in the corner like you don't belong here." She said, gently. "You're just as much apart of us as you are in your world." He smiled up at her with deep sincerity, then looked back to his own glass of fire whisky.

The hush in the room resumed once more, and as Harry lifted his gaze to look about he noticed several looks in the room that seemed oddly accusing. Lupin stood up once more, looking about. "Now I know what you're thinking." He said. "But Muddungus didn't rat us out. If you can recall, though he didn't want to be in this, he had been the one to suggest the bit of skullduggery that got Harry safely here. The Polyjuice Potion."

"Regardless," came the upset voice of Flure, "Some one must 'ave leeked ze information or none of zis 'ould 'ave 'appened." Her expression silently dared anyone to challenge what she had said.

"The information could have been accidentally leaked…" Sora suggested. "I mean, it's not like anyone here wanted this to happen, right? It could have been an accident, and besides who would tell the date but not that Edward was alive?"

"If zat is ze case, zen someone carelessly leaked ze information to an outsider! It is ze only explanation to zem knowing ze date but not ze whole plan."

"No," Harry stood up. "I mean if someone made a mistake then it was just and accident. But no one meant it. We've got to trust everyone in this room. I trust all of you, I don't think anyone would want to hand me over to Voldemort in here." Silence followed. He sat back down and took another sip of the strong liquid for something to do.

"Well said, Harry." said Fred, unexpectedly.

"Yea, 'ear, 'ear." With half a glance as Fred and Sora who both held back a laugh.

Kingsly turned and began to leave the room with Bill and Lupin. "Where are you going?" Tonk's and Flure both asked. The men turned around and looked to them. Lupin answered.

"We're going to get Moody's body back."

"Can't it—" Mrs. Weasley spoke up.

" Wait? Not unless you want Death Eaters picking over the remains." Bill answered. With that they turned and began to leave as well.

Harry stood up just then. "I'm going to." He said. Fifteen sets of startled eyes looked back at him. "I can't stay here as long as it puts everyone in danger." said Harry.

"Not this again." Sora said, giving a tiered smile.

"Don't be silly Harry." said Mrs. Wealsy. "What are you talking about?"

Harry rubbed his forehead as it began to prickle. "While I'm here I'm putting you all in danger."

Edward watched Harry, his annoyance with him was starting to grow. Mrs. Wealsy looked about the room, flustered before returning her gaze to Harry.

"But we've already gone through plans so that Flure may have her wedding here rather than in France, and we've all decided to keep an eye on you and Edward." Mrs. Weasley reasoned. This didn't make Harry feel any better. "You and Edward just can't go off by yourselves…"

"It's because of me that Edward has to pretend he's dead. That he can't go back home."

"Blimy 'arry, yer not goin' anywhere. Not after what we did ta get ya here." said Hagrid

"It would seem pointless." Riku agreed.

"What about my bleeding ear!" said George.

"I know that—"

"Madeye wouldn't want—"

"I KNOW!" Harry bellowed. He felt beleaguered and blackmailed, and worst of all guilty. Didn't anyone understand that was precisely the reason why he wanted to leave? So no one else would be hurt?

Edward let out a breath as he looked to Harry, who was now standing up with a pained expression on his face. He walked over to him as Harry sat back down, his foot steps echoed in the quiet room. He stood over Harry, looking down at where he sat without saying a word. Harry, after a few quiet moments, finally noticed him and looked up. Edward looked down at Harry sternly, then spoke. "As your bodyguard, I apologize in advance for what I'm about to do."

"What are you—"

A loud _slap_ could be heard through out the room. Every one who watched sat in stunned silence as Harry turned his face back looking up to Edward, a large red welt on the right side of his face. Then Edward raised his voice and began to yell at him. "Will you stop thinking that the entire world revolves around you? Hell, if you didn't have any of us in the first place, you'd be dead!" Those words hit Harry harder than Edward's own fist had. His gaze lowered as he realized this truth. "If you don't mind, _sir_," he continued, "I'd like for once to be in a place where the only eyes on my back are friendly ones." With that, Edward went past Harry and began heading up the stairs and to his room. "Come on Al," he called, and then disappeared in the rooms above.


	4. Heartless Blood?

Heartless Blood?

By

Eden (warning: contains strong use of rubber ducks. Read at your own risk)

That night, Edward had informed Alphonse about everything he and the others had discovered from the year before. Alphonse listened intently, his gaze never leaving his older brother as he spoke. When Edward finished his left hand dragged down his face and he let out a long and tiered breath. "I couldn't mail you because I was afraid someone might intercept it and find out what we had learned. I'm sorry Al, I never meant to make you worry."

"No, I understand… sort of." He paused and bent his helmet so his eyes were looking down at the ground. "I, erm… so this Dark Wizard is causing all of this mayhem?"

"Yea, this and a lot of other problems. You already know that the military is corrupt, and over here Voldemort is practically controlling the Ministry and the media. It's just as bad here as it is in Aramatus."

"Seems worse if you ask me." He added quietly. Edward lifted his gaze and looked out the window.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"We're at war again."

Edward turned his attention back to Alphonse, his brow furrowed. "Central? With who?"

"Lior. There was an uprising; I even heard that father Cornello returned to lead them in the rebellion against Central."

"What?" Edward felt a burning hatred in his heart as soon as he recalled the pale-colored, false prophet of the desert town. Father Cornello was a truly sinister man, who used the faith of god to his advantage. Edward and Alphonse had gone to Lior in hopes of finding the Philosophers stone and using it them selves, but all they had managed to do was bring down Lior's religion and expose Father Cornello as a con artist. Edward couldn't imagine the towns people being lead by that man after being exposed like he had been. "Why would anyone follow him?"

"I don't know, but the uprising is pretty bloody. I'm not sure what Central is trying to accomplish by killing everyone."

"Does it matter? The so-called Furer is a blood-thirsty homunculus. Who knows what they want. We have to stop them, both here and there."

"How? Lt. Colonel Mustang was moved here, what can he do about stopping him over there?"

"I don't know Al, but we'll just have to let the Lt. Colonel decide it on his own." He stood up from his bed and walked to the door. "I'll be right back Al, I'm gonna—" he heard the loud 'clank' of Al's armor when he stood suddenly.

"So after everything I told you, Lior, the war, you still want to stay here?" Alphonse asked. Edward turned so he was facing his brother, his hand still clenched on the doorknob.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… it's nothing." Alphonse turned and quietly sat back down on the bed, fuming. Edward let go of the doorknob and turned to his younger brother. Though he stood relaxed with his hands in his pockets, he knew there was something bugging Al and wanted nothing more than to find out what it was. However, Al didn't seem as though he would let anything escape that barrier he kept up. "I'm sorry, what were you going to do?"

"Nothing really. I was just going to talk to the guys… mmph." He bit his lip and then went over and sat down next to Al. "But I haven't seen you in a long time. Tell me about everything else at home, the good things. How's Aunty? What about Teacher, is she still with us?"

"She's hanging in there, the doctors are worried but Teacher has a strong will. I don't think she'll let go and lay down until she really has to."

The brothers talked together for the rest of the night until Harry and Ron walked into the room. The Elrics clammed up as soon as the door opened. They met the eyes of Harry and Ron, then breathed out in what seemed like relief.

"Were you expecting something?" Harry asked as Ron walked in. He closed the door and walked over to his cot, exhausted.

"Not really…" Edward laughed nervously. The image of his teacher screaming at him about magic came to mind at that moment. His eye twitched as the scream-fest played in his mind.

Harry took his glasses off and lay down on his cot. Those who remained sitting up exchanged looks with one another. Both Ron and Al looked to Edward and nodded or indicated to Harry, as if to urge him to say something. Edward shook his head at the two of them, but they only persisted with more nods and points. Edward let out a quiet 'jeeze' before turning where he sat to look over to his friend. Harry remained lying in the cot, unmoving and silent as he stewed.

"Hey, Harry?"

"What?" sounded the flat affect of a pissed off Potter.

"Erm… you're not still sore about, you know, _way back when_… when I slapped you and stuff?"

"You mean an hour ago?"

"Y-Yea. That." He gave a nervous laugh that faded away to a quiet cough. He watched Harry rise up, his back still to them and swing his legs off the end of the camp bed. He was hunched over and quiet.

"No." Harry replied. "In fact I understand why we need to stay… so you were right."

"Whoa, now you're being way to agreeable. Who are you and what have you done with the real Scar Head?" he joked, gently poking fun at him. He could see it, though Harry wasn't looking at him, he could see there was something on his mind. It must have been very important or he wouldn't have shrugged something so embarrassing off so easily, then again they weren't the same.

Harry gave a tiered laugh and nodded to him. "I must be tiered in that case. Well, I'm going to fall asleep in that case. G'night." He lay back down on his cot and pulled the covers over him.

Just then, Ron leaned into Edward and swatted his shoulder to gain his attention. Edward looked over to him, watching as Ron put a hand to his mouth so as to block what he was saying from Harry's ears. He spoke softly, but his face was stern as if he knew something very important. "He's been acting like this ever since Hermione and I found him at the back gate."

"What was he doing there?" Edward whispered back.

"I'm not sure— I don't think he was trying to leave, but when we found him he was just standing there holding the gate."

Edward frowned, his gaze wandering back over to Harry. He had a strange feeling about what Ron had told him, but he didn't want to confront him yet. He waited until every one had fallen asleep before he walked over to Harry's cot. A flesh hand slapped over Harry's mouth, preventing him from making a sound when he woke up surprised. Wide and shocked eyes stared back up into Edward's own. He pushed him self up off the cot and felt around fro his glasses on the floor. He placed them on his face and watched as Edward walked over to the door and motioned for him to follow.

Once to the stairway, Harry tried once more to speak, but one glance from Edward silenced him. He continued to follow him, neither one saying a word. Down the stairs they went and to the door, all the while Harry wondered why he was being lead so far. He made a noise as he was about to speak, but Edward ignored him and merely waked out of the door and waited for him to follow.

Edward stopped walking and leaned against the back wall of the home, crossing his arms he looked to Harry flatly before saying anything.

"Okay, spill it."

"Spill what?"

"Come on, I know you well enough to know when you've had a _vision_, or whatever that is." He paused and saw the startled reaction in Harry's eyes. Harry got ready to deny his accusation, but the look in his friend's eyes told him it wouldn't be of any use. Harry let out that breath of defeat and instead gave off a weary smile.

"It's been a long night… hasn't it?" he asked. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned to go back through the back door. "With Moody gone and you nearly duying, do you really want to hear…?"

"Knock it off." His eyes narrowed. "I could say the same thing about you too. Now spill it." He said once more. There was no talking his way out of this one, Edward had him in a corner.

"Fine, here's what I saw…" Harry described the horrible scene where an infuriated Voldemort looked down at a weak and battered old wand maker. Ollivander was chained to the ground looking up to Voldemort, the fright in his eyes chilled Harry to the core as he recalled it. Voldemort tortured Ollivander, claiming that he had lied to him about the wand Harry possessed.

"You're wand? Why?" Edward interrupted.

"It… well, when you fell off and Sora chased after you, I was left alone. Then Voldemort had cast the 'Arvada Kadavera curse to hit him, but my wand, it seemed to move on it's own! It cast golden flames that shot at Voldemort— I've never done anything like that before. It even broke his wand in half. I suppose it wasn't exactly _his_ wand though, he said something about Lucius's wand being the one he used."

"Okay…" of course Edward only could follow the main half of what Harry was saying and seemed fairly confused. "So what does all of that mean?"

"I don't know." Harry sighed. "Honestly, that's why I didn't mention it to anyone. I figured why alert everybody? I mean, it wasn't about the Heartless or the stone, or anything really… he was just really, really mad about my casting that spell." Moments passed by without either boy saying a word to one another, then the silence was broken.

"Ah well, I guess it's really was nothing." Edward turned and began walking back into the house.

"That's it?"

"That's it." Edward nodded. "I could have waited for tomorrow, you know, when Hermione questions you,"

"Why do you think she knows?"

Edward turned to him with a knowing smile. "Come on, Ron might not know why you froze out there, but I betchya Hermione does…"

In the day following that night, Harry found Edward's prediction to be true. As soon as Hermione, Ron, and Riku cornered the both of them on the living room couch, he was forced to tell them the story over once more. After he did, Ron and Riku seemed thoughtful and reasonably satisfied, while Hermione had a look of grave worry on her face. "Harry, you're not suppose to be seeing this." she warned. "It was suppose to be over with last year."

He didn't find her words to be of any use to him. He reminded her tirelessly that he wasn't good at occlumency. When he once more reminded her of that, there came a snicker to the right of him. Edward was leaned back against the couch, with eyes closed and face pointed towards the ceiling, he listened in with an amused smile.

"Did you know about this?" Hermione snapped. Edward opened an eye to give her a mildly playful look. The gleam in his eyes told her more than his words did.

"It's not hurting anyone."

"Have you forgotten—"

"Never mind, Hermione." said Riku. "Harry is safe for now. Voldemort can't track him with it, and besides—"

"Give the mate a break," Ron interrupted he placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "It _is_ his birthday." he smiled. Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but instead nodded.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm just…"

"I understand. If anything serious does come up I'll let you know. I always do, don't I?" there was a silence as they all looked to Harry, the same flat expression plastered on their faces.

"Hey, guys," came the warning tone from Sora. He was leaned out into the Kitchen doorway and looking out to them. "Erm, I don't know what's going on here, but Mrs. Weasley is going to throw a fit if she sees you all meeting here like this." He ducked back into the kitchen quickly.

"Oh yea, I forgot that we promised her we'd help clean the place out for the wedding." Edward scratched the back of his head, as if the thought of housework weighed on him.

"It's the least we can do for them." Riku reasoned, his tone cool and mature. Edward opened an eye, looking to the surely teen with a grin.

"Since you're _so_ much more adult and respectful than the rest of us, how about taking on more chores?"

"No dice." He smirked back. He tossed a rag into Edward's face. "The second floor railing needs dusting. Mrs. Weasley told me to tell you that it _needs_ to be spotless." With that he walked into the kitchen to join Sora as he washed dishes.

"Oi, come on mates, I'll help you clean the second floor. What about you Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Ginny and I were taking a break, but now I'm helping her change the sheets in the guest room. I'll see you at lunch." She walked away and up the stairs, heading for the guest room. Edward watched her leave silently, then let out a breath as his eyes dwelled on the dusty staircase that awaited them.

"Guess we should start." spoke Ron. They nodded soundlessly and were less than enthusiastic as they wandered closer. They worked from the bottom up, wiping the support poles along with the top of the railing, moving up pole by pole, step by step. After half an hour the boys were half way up when Harry's rag dropped over the side of the stairs. He let out an annoyed grunt as he leaned over to watch it fall. Edward and Ron watched him stand and start heading down the stairs. Ron gave a quick glance to Edward before turning back to Harry. The look on Ron's face vaguely reminded him of the same taunting, mischievous, smile the twins would wear right before something would happen.

"Harry," Ron called. Harry had only gone a few steps before he stopped and turned back with a questioning look. "You're seventeen today, remember? _Of age_? Just call that rag back, mate."

A small smile of realization spread across his face as he remembered that what Ron said was true. He quickly stepped back into place where he had dropped the rag, then sat with his had outstretched. "_Accio_ rag." He said. The rag jumped up off the ground and flew straight back up towards him. The rag shot straight into Harry's face, waking him with a force that laid him back against the stairs. Ron and Edward laughed as Harry wrenched the rag from his face, glaring up at the two of them.

"That never gets old." Ron laughed.

Meanwhile, in the Kitchen, Sora stood at the sink with an apron that Mrs. Weasley had offered him, and a folded rag that lifted his spiky bangs from his face. A bare forehead showed just how hot it was as sweat rolled down his face. He had been standing in front of a hot sink, washing all the china and regular dishes. He turned to look over his shoulder at Riku, who sat quietly at the table with a book in his hands. A frown spread across Sora's face as the seconds rolled on. "_Hello_…?" Sora addressed flatly. Riku looked up from his book innocently. "Aren't you going to help me with these?"

"I suppose if I finish this book." He nodded. Sora turned around, pulling the rubber gloved from his hand and placing his fists on his hips, to which, Riku snorted and eyed him. "You should really see your self."

"Come on I've been doing the dishes all by my self here!"

"You look like an angry house wife."

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yes ma`am." He smiled.

"_Urrrg_….!" Sora turned around and began cleaning dishes once more.

"Alright, keep your bloomers on, I'll help you." Riku set the book down and pushed away from the large oak table to stand next to him. He picked up a rag and began to dry the dishes. No sooner had he pitched in to help when Edward walked in with his own dirty and dusty rag. He walked over to the sink, about to place it into the soapy water when Riku snatched the rag from him and twirled it on his finger.

"Hey!" snapped Ed, but he merely walked past him, whistling as he went into the living room. Edward began to follow him to retrieve his rag, when he felt Sora's wet and soapy grasp on his shoulder.

"Hey, since Riku ran off could you help me?" he asked.

"He didn't run off he's right—"

"Come on, I've been doing these stupid dishes for an hour and I tried to get Riku to help but he's too busy with his book and I'm not getting very far on my own—"

"Okay, Okay… sheesh. You sound like some angry house wife."

"What does everyone keep saying that?!" He ripped the gloves off his hands and shoved them into Edward. Edward had stopped laughing when the sopping wet rubber mitts had slapped him in the chest. The next thing he saw was the apron that now covered his face, then the feeling of yet another rag on top of that.

"What are you doing?" he pulled the apron off his face, letting the rag fall to the floor carelessly and looked around for Sora.

"Taking a break." The voice came from behind where the table was. Edward frowned as he placed the apron and gloves on the counter and went over to the sink. Placing one glove over his metal hand, he kept his eyes on Sora.

"It's not like I've been slacking off either you know..." he muttered.

Sora whipped his brow free of the sweat. "Anyway, this is a good chance to fill you in on the Heartless." He watched Edward who continued to merely wash dishes at his leisure. "Not interested?"

"Eh… you see one Heartless, you've seen 'em all." He turned around, a dish in hand. "Besides, what can be so interesting about them anyway?"

"We're at war with them, that's something right?" he asked. "But anyway, do you remember how Riku an' I weren't going to leave with Harry on the Hogwart's express last year?"

"Yea, I do…. Where did you two go? It was almost like you disappeared the next day when term ended."

"Well, we had decided to find out what was with the Heartless, the ones Riku named 'Chainers', and boy what a find!"

"You mean you found out what's made them so freakin'—"

"Different? Sure did, check this out." Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vile that contained gooey, deep purple, liquid. It was corked shut and just big enough to fit in Sora's palm. "Riku and I can't figure out what this stuff is." he said. Edward turned around from the counter and eyed the little vile in Sora's hand. "Go ahead and take it if you want. Maybe you'll know what's in it."

Edward walked over and picked up the little vile, holding it up to the light. The mixture was thick, no light could shine though the mucky, pink substance. "What is this? Where did you get it?" he asked.

"Riku and I had gone north where he heard there were more Heartless activity. When we got to the little town in the hills…" he paused, and let out a small slow breath. "We were too late. The town was completely empty, nobody remained except Heartless. It was terrible."

"But where did you get this?"

"Riku and I were ambushed by the Chainers, they surrounded us. We fought them off as best as we could, but we weren't able to defeat a single one. Riku managed to cut one pretty deep though, and for some reason, at that moment, they all just ran away and back into the darkness! Their blood though, that's what your holding in your hand there. Riku scooped up a sample of it and we left that place."

"What are you telling me, that this is the blood of a Heartless?"

"Yea, but it's like nothing we've seen before. Usually, Heartless don't bleed, not like this. Their bodies spurt black goo, remember?"

"Oh yea, who can forget about that…" The black goo that the Heartless would bleed would often dry up after the first few moments after their death, then disappear right away. It could leave stains on one's red coat though, to which, the owner would scrub and scrub at until it was no more. "So this is the strange Heartless blood, huh?"

"Yup, we think Voldemort just did it for the Heartless." Sora then saw the confusion in Edward's eyes as he examined the contents of the vile. Sora explained further. "Riku thinks there might be some benefit if you examine the blood yourself."

"What's the point of doing… oh." Edward griped the vile and looked over to Sora. "I get what he means." He nodded to Sora. "I'll have this figured out by tonight." He promised.

"Wait, you and Riku may get what that means, but what's so important about the blood?" he stood up. "I mean it's no good if it's out of the body, right?"

"Wrong." Edward smiled. "Don't worry about it Sora, you've got your Keyblade, and I've got my Alchemy."

"Huh? What does that… well whatever you say. I'll take over the dishes again Ed, you can dry them now."

When the job was finished, Edward and Sora sat back down on the table for a break. "Man I'm thirsty," Sora said, "A tall glass of pumpkin juice would be great right now."

"I'll take one too." There was a moment of silence as Sora moved about the find two glasses they had washed already. Edward looked outside the window to watch Ron and Harry together, blasting away at little gnomes that came into view. His gaze wandered back to the living room, where he could see his brother moving furniture according to Mrs. Weasley's directions. "Huh, I wonder where Lt. Pain-in-the-Ass and Mr. Weasley are?" Edward asked. Sora set a glass in front of him and took his seat once more.

"They probably got dragged into doing something as well." He took a long sip of the sweet drink and set it back on the table. "You'd think with all these people in the house there wouldn't still be so many chores."

"I wonder if Mrs. Weasley is casting some kind of _dust_ spell on the house or is _over cooking_ on purpose."

"Having a fun little chat boys?" asked Mrs. Weasley. The boys jumped at the sound of her voice and turned to look at her. In a politely cross tone, she looked over to the blond. "Edward dear, would you mind turning the sink water off, before it drips over the counter."

He turned around to see that the sink was over flowing with soapy dishwater. He raced to the sink and shut off the valve. He looked back to Mrs. Weasley with an apologetic smile, but she merely nodded to him and turned back to Sora. "And you," she said, "Will you be a dear and help out Ron in the back with chickens."

"S-sure ma'am." Sora was more than eager to leave the room with their host in a foul mood. Edward looked over to Mrs. Weasley and gave as best a smile he could to look polite. He watched as her hands were slowly brought up to her hips and her brow furrowed

"So I cast 'dust spells', do I?" she asked. Edward felt as though he had swallowed a rock.

888

Elsewhere in the house, Riku sat down and meditated quietly. While the others worked, he busied himself with theories and research. He was placed in the middle of the room, open books and documents were scattered in front of him. A mountain of presents were stacked behind him, all waiting to be organized and accounted for. Riku thought his time to be of more use if he ignored it and would perhaps get Sora to do them later. As he meditated, he could feel the hearts of those who resided inside the Burrow with him. He found that the beat of everyone's well being to be healthy and well, especially Harry and Ginny's. Curious by the activity, his powers honed in on where they were. He could sense them together with one another, they were alone, and Harry's heart beat strong with desire. Riku's lips curled into a smile, for as he had sensed them and the inevitable kiss that was driving them towards one another, he could also sense the raging fires of anger harbored in Ron's heart. 'Oh boy…' finally Ron reached the room where Harry and Ginny stood together. Riku no longer needed his power, for he could hear Ron and Harry arguing at that moment. Riku opened his eyes, hearing the two approach his door and then pass it in a huff. Riku stood and hurried to open the doors, then watched as Ron followed Harry down the stairs.

As the pair passed by, Edward got up from kneeling down on the floor to watch them pass. He wore the same humiliating rag that Sora had worn, and was now on his hands and knees scrubbing the entire living room floor by hand. Harry hurriedly walked by him without a word. Edward then saw Ron struggling to keep up at a walking pace, his ears were red as a tomato. 'Wonder what's the matter.' He stood up, whipping his hands with a rag, and followed them. "Oi, what's going on?" he called out.

Ron turned on Edward and began to shout. "I'll tell you what's wrong!" he turned back and pointed out towards Harry, who stopped at the doorway but did not turn. "He's trying to _mozy_ in on my sister!" He turned and once more headed for Harry, but he too just continued to walk out and to the field. "I'd like to know where you think you can go! Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ron called over. Finally Harry stopped and turned on Ron.

"I wasn't doing what you think I was." Harry defended.

"Oh really, then what was that, a kiss between friends huh?"

"It was… it was nothing."

Edward interrupted just then and looked over to Harry. "You kissed Ginny? Way to go, man." He smiled.

"It's not '_way to go_', Ed!" he turned back to Harry. "Listen, you broke my sister's heart last year. She was really hurt you know."

"I know, I was too! You don't think I wanted to—"

"Just don't go getting her hopes up only to have them crushed. You know? She'll start getting all these ideas and things like that, but we're going to be on a mission!"

"I know that, Ron! It's not like I want to marry her!"

Edward cocked an eyebrow. "Who said anything about marriage?" he asked. He smiled bit as he detected the slight presence of a blush across Harry's face. He looked to Edward sternly, as if to plead not to address it to the other wise oblivious Ron.

"Hands off mate, that's all I'm saying." said Ron. Harry paused for a moment, as if he were considering an answer he already knew. He nodded back and then held out a hand.

"Still mates?" he asked. Ron nodded back to him, letting out a breath of relief and took Harry's hand in his.

"Yea."

"Good, now that that's settled," Edward piped up, "Who wants to help mop the floors?" They stared at him blankly, as if he had just sullied a moment between them.

"Oi," Ron started, flatly. "Didn't you insult my mum?"

"_Okay_, guess I'm headed back inside then." He turned around and walked away, whistling as he did so.

888

Evening rolled around, and Harry's birthday party was quickly being set up, the young man seemed to have other things on his mind though. He wandered about in the Weasley's large home, studying pictures and other things that decorated the walls and shelves of the cozy home. Edward said nothing, nor made an effort to shake Harry from this melancholy state. He couldn't guess what was on his mind other than Ginny or the mission.

Edward, fresh from a shower, fixed his automail arm with the same small screwdriver he used back in the Dursleys. His thoughts weaned away, and he went into a silent meditative state of watching and listening to the repairs of his false arm. He never noticed before the craft and design that went into his limb. Though it was scratched, dinged and had a singe mark on his elbow joint, he could tell that so much work had gone into it. His steady hand paused for a moment as he studied his fingers. Each joint bent exactly as a real finger should, the hand was flexible and life like, if skin were attached to it, there'd be no difference between it and a real arm.

A noise stirred him from his quiet thoughts, surprising him enough to look towards his doorway. Hermione stood there, her knuckled rested against the door frame where she had knocked. "May I come in?" she asked. Edward nodded to her with a soft smile.

"Sure, I'm not busy." He watched her enter, then sit down on the desk chair and click on the light.

"It's getting dark in here." She commented, leaning back.

"Harry's party is soon. Shouldn't you be helping Mrs. Weasley?"

"Oh, so just because I'm a girl I should be down stairs doing the cooking for all the boys?" she teased. Edward felt a bit flustered by her comment, but was relieved to see her gentle smile.

"No, nothing like that. I just thought you'd get roped into helping."

"She let me have a break as she started making the cake. Nobody is allowed in there actually because of her surprise to Harry." She shrugged. Her eyes looked Edward over subtly. His long blond hair hung down in wet locks all around his shoulders and down his back. "You could do with a hair cut." She teased again. Edward ran a hand through his hair and nodded admitting.

"I haven't noticed really…" he muttered. His right arm lifted up to reach over to the night stand where he had left his rubber band. Just as soon as he had reached over though, there came a little 'crack' sound, then the sharp patter of a screw hitting the ground. They had jumped at the sound, then froze when they watched Edward's pinky fall right off his hand and clatter to the floor as well.

"Oh my goodness." Hermione gasped. "How on earth did that happen?"

"I was tuning up my arm." Edward let out a frustrated breath. "I had to unscrew a few joints just so I could tighten others… it's a complicated _mess_." He growled, frustrated. He reached out for the loose joint, only to discover that his hand accidentally came in contact with Hermione's who had also reached for the small joint. He hesitated, allowing her to lift it and hand it back to him.

"Here you are… literally." She smiled. Edward gave a smile back to her and took it back. "While you do that, I can fix your hair for you." She offered.

"No way, I know what girls do when their given a chance!"

"Who have you hung around?" her tone flat with an amused smile. "Don't be a baby, come on." She walked over to the bed and sat down. She folded her legs and was now facing his back, her hand placed on his shoulders. He felt a chill run down his spine the moment she had touched him. He was unsure of the strange feeling and ignored it. Instead of thinking about it, he put his pinky back in its place and quickly began screwing it back.

Silence rung out in the room, neither one saying or thinking a thing other than what was in front of them. Finally, Hermione finished with Edward's hair and tied the lose ends up in the black rubber band. "You really do need a cut." She laughed. "For a moment I thought I was braiding Flure's hair."

"_Haha_, real funny." He muttered. He froze once more when he felt her hands on his shoulders.

"It was just a joke, relax. Mrs. Weasley could cut it for you tomorrow if you want."

"N-no, she'll be busy, it's alright." He turned away from her, concealing what he hopped wasn't actually a blush.

"I could do it."

"No, really, I'll do it myself. I know how."

"I suppose so." She shrugged. Then turned and got off the bed and walked over to the door way. "The party starts in half an hour, be ready soon."

"Y-yea. Okay." He nodded, pretending he was still adjusting his automail arm. When he heard her foot steps grow distant he looked up to the empty doorway where yellow light flooded in the other wise dark room. He recalled her touch, the way he had reacted to it, then closed his eyes and let out a soft moan of dread. He allowed himself to fall back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling with his hands over his eyes. "No… I can't be… it can't be…" he let out another long groan before going silent.

Eventually Edward got dressed and met everyone else outside in the backyard. A few decorations had been set up, softly lit lanterns and table candles provided light in the dark evening. The sky was cast with an orange tinted blue as the sun set beyond the horizon. Harry was standing with Sora, Ron and the twins. They were all laughing at some sort of joke that Fred told to them. Amongst them, going between tables and sitting with one another, were Lupin and Tonks, Hagrid, and Kingsley. It was a small party of only a few guests, yet this simple party was enough. There were a few presents stacked on a table, each one concealed in a colorful and decorative wrapping. Edward wasted no time in setting the small match box sized gift down next to Sora's, then headed towards his group of friends.

Sitting down at one of the tables, Riku and Alphonse were conversing about Alchemy and magic. Riku had brought up the conversation at first, and Alphonse didn't seem to interested, but as Riku continued he began joining in on how Alchemy worked as well. Hermione sat across from them, listening as one spoke to the other, and sometimes would challenge the other's theories.

Edward had headed in their direction until he had seen Hermione, then had changed gears and moved once more over to the twins and their jokes. As he walked through the small group of chairs that were meant for ever one else who stood, he noticed there were two extra. He looked about, wondering if that was a mistake, then realized he hadn't seen Lt. Colonel Mustang or Mr. Weasley all day. Mr. Weasley must have been at work, but if that was the case then had Mustang gone with him? And why? That seemed to Edward like the most foolish thing he could do. Then he remembered why it was that the Lt. Colonel had been sent out in the first place, to gather information from the Ministry it's self. He wondered what it was the Furer would want if he sent a Lt. Colonel all the way out to retrieve it. He looked to the chairs thoughtfully, his fist clenched as the face of that man loomed in his memories. The Furor, King Bradley, had such a kind face, despite the eye patch that concealed his left eye. His eyes, if ever opened, were blue and gentle, yet somehow Edward had found out the ugly truth behind the smiling mask of the monster.

His thoughts were distracted when there came a gasp from everyone around him. His heart leapt in surprise but was relieved (and somewhat excited) when it was only Mrs. Weasley bringing out the Birthday cake. The large cake had been shaped into that of a snitch, with sugar wings and golden frosting surrounding it.

"That's awesome!" came the weakened, awed, voice of Sora. His mouth already began to drool from the sight of the marvelous cake.

"Ah that looks beautiful, Molly." Lupin got up and helped place the cake onto the table. Everyone gathered around, standing and staring at the delicious cake hungrily. Alphonse eyed it, then took out a small notebook and began writing in it. Edward noticed this strange behavior.

"What's that, Al?" he asked.

"It's a list of sorts…" he said. He closed it and placed it back on the small side pack that was strapped to his leg.

"A list of what?"

"Well…" he lowered his voice and used his hand to block it from everyone else who might hear him. "Is Mrs. Weasley's cooking good? Like mom's was?"

"Yea, of course it is Al."

"That's good, when I get my body back I want to come here and maybe have some of her cooking."

"And that book is full of things you want to eat?"

"Not just eat…" he said. Edward smiled up at him, assuring his brother to not be ashamed.

"That's great Al, you can definitely put that cake down in you book as well."

"Go have a piece."

"I don't need an order for that." He said.

A song struck up with everyone, it was a song that Edward knew was a bit familiar but couldn't sing along with. When the short song ended and the candles were lit, Harry sheepishly blew out the candles, feeling slightly embarrassed as everyone clapped for him. The cake was cut and distributed. Sora had the biggest piece by far, with Ron at second best. Riku saw this act of gluttony as both boys sat down at the table with him. "You two…" he muttered.

"Well look at you, you hardly have any cake at all." Ron pointed out.

"Well if you guys eat all of that we may just have to roll you where ever we go!"

"Think of it this way," Sora offered, cake already stuffed in his mouth, "you can use our bodies as shield, then hide behind up when Voldemort attack." He laughed.

"With your fat it'll just bounce right off and hit him instead." Ron laughed. Riku merely smiled at them, the thought of rolling two ballooned friends down a hill was amusing, no matter how cool you wanted to act.

"You both are hopeless." He chuckled. The smile escaped his lips when he notice the two were now engaged in an eating contest.

Harry ate with Edward and Alphonse. They discussed quidditch, and Edward did his best to explain to Alphonse what the game was about, but half way through he lost himself in his own explanation. Harry picked up on the game and did a better job than Edward. "Haven't you been paying attention at all last year?" Harry asked Edward.

"Hey, I only went to a couple of those, and the ones I missed weren't my fault."

"Oh that's right, you caught a fever didn't you?"

"Yea, several times." Edward nodded.

"What was it from?" Alphonse asked.

"Cod flu." Edward said. Harry rolled his eyes and shoo his head at him. "No, I'm serious, it was Cod flu!"

"That's was just a rumor, remember?"

"I had all the symptoms!"

"If he symptoms were fear of needles and hypochondria, sure you did." Harry muttered. Alphonse laughed along with Harry, no longer worried. As Edward continued to try and convince the others that he had contracted a very serious case of food poisoning the year before, there came a sudden light from far off that drew closer and closer. The blue light caught everyone attention as it zoomed about and finally rested on a table. The patronuse shaped into the form of a weasel. In a booming voice the patronuse spoke in the voice of Arthur.

"The Minister is coming for dinner." It spoke, then disappeared. There was a pause, then suddenly Lupin grabbed Tonk's by the hand and dragged her up. He hurried over to Harry and grasped his shoulder.

"It was a lovely party Harry, but we must be going. Tonks and I aren't too friendly with the Ministry right now. I'll explain later." He then left and hurried into the forest with Tonks behind him. Kingsley also got up, and after thanking Molly, dissaperated away.

Bill rushed over to Edward and beckoned him forward. "Come on Ed, lets hide you away in the house then. Wouldn't want the minister to see you and blow your cover."

"Right." He got up and then hurried away with Bill to be kept inside the Burrow. They entered the home and Bill looked about, then up stairs.

"Right then, off into your room I should think." He said.

"No way," Edward said, "damn I hate hiding like this…" he was reluctant until he heard two 'pop's from outside. He scrambled up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him. Leaned against the door, he looked toward the window that was on the other side of the dark room. "Great, now what, do I wait up here like a coward the entire night?" he muttered. "And I can't even talk to the Lt. Colonel to see what he found… and what's wore is I'm hearing voices." He blinked at his last statement then quieted himself. He could hear voices, through the crack of the window he could hear the conversation down below. He rushed over to the window and sat on his bed, looking down to he ground where he had a clear view of the entire scene.

Along with Scrumgore was Mr. Weasley and Mustang, neither of whom seemed very happy to be in such company. Scrumgore looked much the same as he did last year. His hair was greased and slicked back, like the maintained main of a wet lion. His pointed beak like noise was aimed at Harry as he spoke, though it was hard to make out what it was he was saying. There was something mentioned about a will, then the name Dumbledore came up. Edward tied to keep listening but the voices began moving out of range and out of ear shot. Edward cursed softly and then moved over to the bedroom door. He heard the front door open, yet no one was speaking. There was the sound of foot steps, a good many of them, though Edward couldn't know who or exactly how many. Finally, he heard someone's voice and could only deduce that Scrumgore had walked in.

"Concerning the will of Albus Dumbledore," his drawl suggested that the Minister was reading from something. "Present and with me is one Harry James Potter, one Hermione Granger, and one Ronald Weasley, strictly for the sake of records." So that's who he had heard. He leaned to the door his ear pressed to the crack as he listened. "Stricken from the record is one Edward Elric, who, due to his tragic death,"

"You would say tragic, wouldn't you?" Harry spoke up. "just whose good side are you trying to get on here?" he asked.

"The last testament and will of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledor," he continued. "_To Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in the hope that he will remember me when he uses it._" He read aloud. Edward was growing impatient, and had decided to sneak out rather than merely listen in. He clicked open the door carefully and crawled over to the edge of the railing where he could get a view of the sitting room. Scrumgeour took from a small bag an object that looked, to Edward as he peered over the edge, to be what looked like a silver cigarette lighter. What Edward didn't know was that it had the power to suck the light out of anything, and return it too.

Ron took the Deluminator from Scrumgeour and turned it over in his hands, looking stunned. "That is a valuable object," said Scrumgeour, watching Ron. "It may even be unique, can you think of why Dumbledore would give you something of his own design, and so rare?" Edward could hear a pause but didn't bother to look when Scrumgeour began to speak once more. "Dumbledore must have taught thousands of students, yet the only ones he remembers in his will are you three. Why is that? To what use did he think you would put his Deluminator to, Mr. Weasley?"

"Dunno… put out lights I s'pose." Ron mumbled, "What else can I do with it?"

Edward snorted and gave a small laugh, imagining the frustration on the Ministers face when he had heard Ron's reply. He could only see the minister from the back of his head looking down, then Hermione, Ron, and Harry sitting across from him on a different couch. He listened back in as Scrumgeour moved on to Hermione's inheritance.

"Why do you think Dumbledore left you this book, Ms. Granger?" Scrumgeour asked.

"He… he knew I liked books." Hermione answered. Edward blinked and wondered what he had missed. Was Hermione given something important? A book of what?

"But why that particular book?" the Minister asked.

"I don't know, he must have thought I'd enjoy it." Hermione answered once more.

"Did you ever discuss codes, or any means of passing secret messages to Dumbledore?" Edward heard this and rolled his eyes.

'I have a feeling that this guy would even suspect his mother of Dark Arts.' Edward thought to himself. He heard Hermione begin to sob and knew it as a woman's crocodile tears. He smirked at the thought of Scrumgeour being pulled into such a rouse.

"No, I didn't!" she cried, flustered. "And if the Ministry hasn't found any hidden codes in this book in thirty-one days, then I doubt I will." She suppressed a sob. Edward was starting to wonder if Hermione's tears were real. What could he do but sit and wait as the Minister once more returned to reading the will.

" '_To Harry James Potter,_' " read the Minister, " _'I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match in Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.' _"

Edward listened in disbelief, he couldn't imagine what possible use a Snitch could have on their mission to destroy the Horcruxs. Edward's face scrunched up in confused thought when he saw the snitch. 'Either Dumbledore was more off his rocker than I remember or he's freakin' sentimentalist.' He thought to himself.

"You think it's a mere keepsake then?" came the skeptical voice of Scrimgeour.

"I suppose so," said Harry, "What else could it be?"

"I'm asking the questions." Edward could hear the old Minister's chair creek a bit as he shifted. "I noticed that you cake is in the shape of a Snitch, why is that?"

"Oh it can't be a reference to Harry being a great Quidditch player, that'd be too obvious." She said with thick sarcasm. Edward was finding it hard to suppress a laugh as she continued. "There must be a message in the icing from Dumbledore."

"I don't think there's a message hidden in the icing," said the Scrimgeour, "rather, in the Snitch it's self." He continued. "A Snitch has something, as I'm sure you know Potter, called flesh memory, which means it will remember the first hand that's touched it." There was a pause, Edward craned his neck in an effort to hear anything that might be going on. "Take the Snitch, Potter." There was yet another pause of silence. Edward once again, boldly peeked below to see what was going on.

Harry's hand was about to clench around the small bright gold object in Scrumgour's old crusty hand; if what the Minister had said was true, and if Dumbledore had hidden some message in or on the Snitch, then it was about to be exposed. Edward saw when finally Harry closed his hand around the golden ball. A few moments went by and nothing happened. Edward shared a sigh with the others as he slid back down into hiding.

"Well, if that's all then," Scrugeour began to stand, when Harry piped up.

"Hold on, what about the other inheritance?" he asked. Scrumgour paused and looked down at Harry.

"What about it?" he asked. "Curious?"

"Just a bit, seeing as how it belonged to Edward."

"Ah yes, you're _late _friend, the Muggle. Yes I was rather curious as to why such an esteemed wizard like Dumbledore would mention a Muggle in his will." He sat back down and once more held the will in both his hands, looking down through a pair of spectacles as he did. He seemed as though he were about to, when he sat up took the reading glasses off his face and looked to the three of them. "Now, why on earth would you want to know? Is there some significant to this next item?"

"We'll never know until you tell us." said Harry. "It's not like we knew Dumbledore had left us anything."

"Do us the favor," said Hermione. The boys, and Edward, looked over at Hermione surprised by the gentleness in her voice. Her eyes still held fresh tears from before, her delicate fingers pressed gently against her lips as she gathered her self. "I mean," she said, "after Dumbledore's death… then Edward…" more tears seemed to well up in her eyes. Ron put his arm around her and gently held her shoulders, reassuring her it was alright. Edward was stunned by Hermione's act, it seemed to even have the boys worried. Scrumgeour seemed a bit flustered, but let his guard down and held the will up once more.

"_To Edward Elric, I leave a rubber duck._" The sounds of Hermione's sobs instantly stopped when the words left the Minister's mouth. They all turned to him, stunned by his words. To validate what he had said, he pulled from the pouch he had held the inheritance in a small, yellow, ordinary, rubber duck. He squeezed it, the harsh squeaking noise rang out in the silence. Edward's eye twitched at the sight of the horrid yellow thing, Ron snorted and tried to hold back his laughter, and Harry was pale with disappointment. "There's more," Scrumgeour called their attention back to him. "_To Edward Elric I leave a rubber duck, in hopes that he remembers that the ordinary can be extraordinary through the right eyes."_

For a long time the only sound that could be heard was Ron desperately trying to hold back the laugh that threatened to burst from his puffed out cheeks at any moment. Scrumgegour placed the duck down carefully and looked at them all suspiciously. He eyed them, especially Ron. "Edward was a Muggle, but an Alchemist all the same. So far we have yet to conclude what the function of such a devise is used for in daily Muggle living."

Harry let out a groan and rubbed his face. "Oh you've got to be kidding me…" Harry muttered.

"What could Dumbledore be thinking giving an Alchemist such a seemingly mysterious device."

"Device?" Hermione asked flatly. "It's a toy."

"To an Alchemist, maybe, but is it a threat to us?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Harry yelled out angrily over the howls of laughter that Ron finally released.

"Oh yes," Ron shouted, "All hail he with…" he picked up the duck, "with the—the _rubber duck_!" he broke out in laughter once more.

Edward trembled with anger as he tried to restrain himself, his fingers dug into the floor beneath him. Was Dumbledore really as blind as the Minister? Did he honestly think a rubber duck held any meaning in Alchemy? Was this a joke? A sick joke from beyond the grave? 'No… there has to be some meaning behind it…!' he thought desperately. He glared at it as it rested in Ron's hands.

Edward was listening as the conversation became heated. The Minister and Harry exchanged words and slowly Edward caught up with that it was they were talking about. 'So,' thought Edward, 'Harry was suppose to be given a sword, but the Ministry won't give it back.' Edward unknowingly clenched his jaw.

"Why do you think—?"

"Dumbledore wanted to give me a sword?" Harry finished Scrumgeour's question. "Maybe he thought it would look nice on my wall."

"This is not a joke Potter!" growled Scrumgeour. "Was it because Dumbledore believed that only the sword of Godric Gryffindor could defeat the Heir of Slytherin? Did he wish to give you that sword, Potter, because he believed, as many do, that you are the only one who can defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Interesting theory." said Harry. "Has anyone tried to stick a sword in Voldemort? Maybe the Ministry should put some people on that, instead of wasting their time stripping down Rubber Ducks and covering up Heartless attack and Azkaban breakouts. So is this what you've been doing, Minister, shut up in your office, trying to break open a Snitch? People are dying— my friends and I were nearly one of them— Voldemort chased me across three counties almost killing E—Sora, and killing Mad-Eye Moody, but there's been no word about it from the Ministry, has there? And you still expect us to cooperate with you?"

"You go too far!"

Edward heard feet shuffling and instinctively knew something bad was about to happen. He resisted the urge to jump over the railing as the Minister's wand jabbed into Harry's chest and burned a hole in the boy's shirt like a lit cigarette. Where Edward could do nothing but watch, Ron was ready with his wand pointed right at the Minister.

"No!" said Harry, not looking away from Scrumgeour but holding a hand out to his friend. "D'you want to give him a reason to arrest you?"

"Remembered you're not a school, have you?" he breathed hard into Harry's face. "Remembered that I'm not Dumbledore, who forgave your insolence and insubordination? You may wear that scar like a crown, Potter, but it is not up to a seventeen-year-old boy to tell me how to do my job! It's time you learned some respect!"

"It's time you earned it!" said Harry who glared back at Scrumgeour.

The floor trembled from the footsteps that were running their way. All those from outside had run into the room or occupied the doorway. There came the tiered and panting voice of Mrs. Weasley. "We— we thought we heard—"

"Raised voices." Mr. Weasley finished. The room turned surprisingly silent for so many people. At last, a voice did speak up.

"Over stepped your self again, have you?" came the stern cool voice of Lt. Colonel Roy Mustang. Everyone turned and separated away from him in view of Scrumgeour. "Ron, put your wand down, and Minister kindly take your wand out of the boy's chest, it ill befits someone in your position. Almost looks as though you're desperate." There was a feeling of malice in the Lt. Colonel's words. Mustang stopped a few steps away from the Minister and looked at him coolly. Harry could feel a burning hatred coming from Scrumgeour, yet the old Minister contained himself somehow. The Minister, although clearly displeased with the idea of doing what a Lt. Colonel said, did stand up straighter and put his wand away.

"It… it was nothing," he growled, "I… regret your attitude," he said, looking to Harry full faced once more. "You seem to think that the Ministry does not desire what you— what Dumbledore— desired. We ought to be working together."

"I don't like your methods," said Harry.

Not another word was spoke as Scrumgeour turned and limped by them all, pausing next to the unmoving Lt. Colonel Mustang for but a moment and narrowing his eyes at him hatefully, then continuing until he got back outside. The family watched him dissaperate, the others staying right where they were, unmoving as they looked to where Scrumgeour had once been.

"He's gone." said Mrs. Weasley.

"What was that about?" Riku asked Harry. Both he and Sora came forward with Alphonse behind him.

"Nothing, just going over the will of Albus Dumbledore while being probed."

"Dumbledore left you something?" Sora asked, astounded. "Whatever it is, it has to be powerful and extremely poignant to our mission!"

Harry, Hermione and Ron all exchanged a look before holding out what it was that they were all given, then turned to look at the small rubber duck. Sora's expression flattened when he looked from the Deluminator, to the book and then finally the Snitch. "No, seriously, where's the stuff he left us?"

"'fraid so, Spiky," said Edward. Hermione looked over to Edward puzzled.

"How come you're not surprised?" she asked. Ron gave a half laugh and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"You know Edward, he can't stand being left outta somethin'." said Ron. Edward just rolled his eyes and let out a breath.

"Yea well," said Edward, "Doesn't matter— at least you two didn't get jipped with a crappy inheritance." he said. "What I wanna know is, what's so special about those useless things that Dumbledore left us?"

"They're not useless!" Hermione huffed, clutching the book closely to her chest. "And don't treat it as though it just some… random thing! They're… they're meaningful… and probably a big help."

"A big help?" Edward looked from the book and then to Hermione in disbelief. "Hermione, what exactly do you think you're going to do with that book? _Bore_ Voldemort to death?"

"You're isn't any better." Ron argued. He picked up the duck once more and handed it to him. It plopped into his hand, making a small 'squeak' noise. Edward's eyes rolled up to Hermione flatly. He could see that she was desperately trying to come up with good reason for the items. Ron put an arm around Hermione's shoulder just then and looked to Edward sternly. "Hey, if she says there's meaning, then there's meaning. Besides, who knows what Dumbledore has in mind."

"You can say that again." Sora sighed.

Riku looked to the items, then rubbed his eyes with a frustrated look. "If there is a meaning behind any of these things, I bet Edward and I can crack it."

"If there was something hidden in it or anything like that the Ministry would have found it." Hermione defended. "They keep and examine the inheritance for 31 days before releasing it to the heirs, it's Ministry policy."

"You're going to stand there and tell me that Dumbledore gave me _this_ just for a laugh?" Edward argued, holding the duck. Ron snorted, and with Edward's temper already at its limit, he hurled the duck at Ron and knocked him in the face. The toy merely bounced off of his cheek and rested on the ground with a harmless 'squeak'. Edward growled in frustration then leapt up to tackle it, possibly to destroy it, but was held back by his brother who held him up by the arms. "Don't destroy your inheritance!" Al warned.

"It's mine now isn't it I can destroy whatever I want!" he growled.

"Look there has to be a meaning, to everything," he said, directing his last words to Edward. "I can find out their meaning, try to crack the code. I'll take everything and examine them the rest of the night, you've already got something examine." It was then Edward remembered the vile of blood Sora had given him. The mysterious blood held his interest much more than the irritating inheritance. Edward nodded to Riku, agreeing with him.

"Alright, I'll help in that case."

"Good." Riku nodded. "For now though, lets go back out and enjoy what's left of Harry's birthday.


	5. Heartless Wedding

A Heartless Wedding Night

By

Deon

A.N: (Ah, if any of this seems familiar… ignore the notion.)

Edward woke up achy the next morning. He sat up in the desk chair and watched as the quill he used the night before peeled off his cheek and fell back to the tables surface. He yawned and stretched, listening to his back crack as he did. He looked back to the little vile with half of it's pink contents left within it. The beakers and other little vials he had used were set up on the table, in the same position they had been in the night before.

He had conducted every test he knew he could do against magic potions; reverse energy printing, separating the compounds within the substance, identifying each contents, and even went as far as to try and change it into something more familiar. Edward had tried again, and again, and again all night to identify what the strange mixture was. He could only separate two things, iron and salt, everything else was melded together in such a way that it became impossible to identify now. Like a good chimera transmutation, everything was fused right down to its molecular structure. What did this say for the 'Heartless blood'? Only that it was unidentifiable, a complete mess of unstable combinations that seemed to Edward like the makings of a mad man. He figured that though Voldemort wasn't quite as mad as your average villain scientist, he was dabbling in something dangerous that he feared to be the Philosopher's stone. If it was true that the unformed pink gunk was elements of the philosopher's stone, then Edward feared Voldemort to be closer to the secret of creating it than he'd thought. Whatever other elements the strange concoction was, it was just one big, messy ingredient now. He rubbed his eyes, frustrated by the lack of results, but felt determined to continue to breakdown every compound he could discover until he discovered what 'Heartless blood really was, and why Sora's KeyBlade couldn't vanquish it.

Edward leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands in front of his mouth in thought. His mind wandered back to the one warm June night only months ago. The clear sky had quickly been crowded by dark ominous clouds. Those in the grounds of Hogwarts were quickly rounded up and ushered back into the castle's safe halls, all except himself and his friends. With Dumbledore no longer able to help them, and the Dark Mark still hanging fresh in the air, the six friends knew there was no way out of fighting the swarms of approaching Heartless. As it began to rain, a strange hush came over everyone as the low rumble of the approaching monsters grew louder. The fight had started off as any other Heartless battle did, swarms approaching left and right but ultimately weak enough to beat. Then as the rain continued to fall, the monsters began to change. Edward remembered the twitchy skin on he surface of their black skins, the ripple of the muscles on their backs as they grew in length, looking like some strange humanoid monster. On the hills of Hogwarts grounds the battle had begun, lead by Harry, who stricken with grief, had wanted revenge for Dumbledore. The fight had not lasted but a short while, indeed each transformed Heartless was harder to beat than the next, but for some reason they had all burst open. Edward and the others had hardly made even a dent in the vast number of Heartless when suddenly their bodies began to wriggle and contort, causing their chests to burst fort and spout out their hearts. Edward had never seen such a sight in his life. The sounds of dying screeches filled the air, black inky blood splattered across their faces hair and cloths. He'd gazed at the empty field a moment later, feeling a small knot in his chest as if he knew something worse had yet to come. Yet as the second wore on into minuets, it seemed that the trouble had passed and all was one more well. Without an answer, and still uneasy, the would-be warriors retreated back behind the walls of Hogwarts.

As for now, he could do nothing more but speculate on the probable cause of their prenuptial deaths. Surely, he thought, the key to that question is all in the blood, both to their defeat and their previous fragile existence.

With that last thought written in his mind, he turned his head and peered out the window, noticing for the first time that he was alone in the stuffy room. It was clearly day, but what time Edward did not know. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his watch, remembering that it was worth little less than telling the time by now. He sighed and closed the top part, his eyes wandering over the state alchemic insignia. He stood and walked out of the room, mentally noting that he would have to apologies to Mrs. Weasley for sleeping in so late.

The boys had been placed outside the Weasley's gated entrance. They were the guest greeters. The boy's stood opposite of each other on either side of the gate. Edward held a stack of seating charts in his right arm, he was to pass them out to each guest that would arrive so they would know where to sit. To his left, Harry stood with another stack of seating charts that were for the Weasleys, where as the ones Edward held were for the Delacours.

Later, the both Harry and Edward were cleverly disguised by the Poly Juice potion to look like two Muggle boys from the village below, of course they would be recognized in introduction as cousin's of the Weasley's. Harry, stout, red-head, and Edward, a slightly taller boy, could have passed off as a genuine family member. There wasn't even a bit of the old Harry or Edward that showed through, even their voice sounded different.

Feeling strange after the altercation, Edward couldn't help but continue to stare at the chubby, deep voiced, boy next to him. Harry noticed this and looked over, catching Edward's eye with his own glare. "Will you cut it out?" Harry begged. "I feel odd enough already."

"You look odd," Edward commented. "_Barney_."

"Please just act like I'm Ron's cousin. The last thing either of us need is for someone to blow our cover."

"No problem… _Barney_." Edward gave a small chuckle at Harry's annoyed face. Apparently, when the Muggle boy grew angry, his face grew almost the same red shade as Ron's ear would when embarrassed. His checks puffed out as though he were ready to explode from the inside out. "You look like a fat chipmunk." He snorted. Edward looked away from Harry, containing his squeaky high laugh.

"Well, Ed, too bad you _height_ is temporary." He smiled as he heard a small growl to his left from Edward. It sounded more like a squeak than a growl.

Later on, Harry felt uncomfortable standing in the summer heat due to his altered and chubby disguise. His dress robes were now too tight for him, they felt constricting and limited his movements. He was only too happy to hear that Hermione would fix this problem for him once the wedding began. His robed were a shade of green and dark earthy-brown, Mrs. Weasley had once described them as having the ability to bring out the color in Harry's eyes.

Edward too was forced to wear his old dress robes as well. Everyone was dressed appropriately for the ceremony. Edward had grown a bit since the last time he had worn his old black and scarlet, red robe. The famous alchemic sign for humanity that hat been painted on the back was removed, but everything else had been left as Edward remembered it. The first time he had ever worn a dress robe was the night of the Yule Ball three years ago, the very first year he knew of the Heartless, magic, or anything outside of Alchemy. Once more, nostalgia crept its way into the conscious part of Edwards ever thinking mind.

Edward was tugging on his sleeve, a habit he hadn't had since a year before last. A small chuckle broke Edward out of his memory. He heard Harry and instantly stopped, remembering it was a habit that he had worked so hard to break. "What're you laughing at?" he muttered, embarrassed.

"You look as though you're ready to fight a dragon." Harry smiled.

"What?"

"You did that exact same thing before you and I entered the arena. You remember?"

"Yea," Edward sighed. "I remember, that was the first time you saw my automail too. I thought for sure that you were going to call me 'cursed' or some bull crap like that."

"That's idiotic." Harry had lightly knocked Edward on the head with his knuckles. Edward looked over to him with a small smile.

"Fighting a dragon was idiotic, I was being cautious." he defended.

"Cautious? When are you ever cautious? If I remember you'd always run in head first—"

"Only to have you follow close behind with no complaint." He reminded him. Realizing defeat, Harry laughed along with Edward and then went silent.

A few minuets went by before two beautiful women dressed in green robes walked up to the gate. They each wore hats with beautiful flowers that wound and twisted around each other. Enchanted birds would flutter around on top of their heads to different flowers. They giggled and whispered in French as they came up to the boys. Edward looked to them, enchanted with their un-earthy beauty.

Before he could even think to open his mouth and say anything at all, Fred and George were suddenly right behind him, each with an arm outstretched for the ladies. "Well, well," said Fred, "Look's like we have,"

"Two Veela cousins." finished George. They opened the gate for the women to enter in, each twin holding a hand outward, mirroring each other. "Don't worry," he said, looking to Edward's disheartened expression as the Veela women left.

"We'll show them the '_English custom'_, alright." winked Fred. Both twins followed after the Veela, leaving Edward and Harry to stand there and watch them go.

"Smooth." said Harry. He turned back around, and with a small sigh waited for others to arrive.

Meanwhile, Sora and Riku were by the refreshments table, setting it accordingly with the finishing touches that the caterers them selves instructed them to do. Sora and Riku were busy stabbing tiny skewers in to rolled up breaded weenies. Riku looked at them with quiet tempered disgust. "You just had to tell them about 'pigs in a blanket'." he said loud enough for only Sora to hear.

"Sorry," Sora whispered back, "but I was hungry, and I figured that a small thing like this…"

"I have _pig_-juice all over my hands," said Riku, irritated. "And I've rolled dozens of these things, all because you needed a sna.…" he looked over to Sora to say more but had to pause and watched, disgusted. Sora had about three in his mouth and was rolling up another one. Riku looked away, deciding it was best if he just didn't say another word.

The wedding guests arrived in a steady trickle that lasted for an hour, most of them were from the Delacour side, which was obvious from the amount of Veela cousins that had arrived in equally stunning dresses and robes as the first pair. When all the guests had arrived and settled into the seats, the friends were relived of duty to go watch the wedding. He looked down the row and waited in silence for the music to start up and the wedding to begin. Edward turned back around, looking down at the green grass of the yard. The music started up, quieting the soft murmurs of the families. Everyone turned in their seats to watch as the bride and her father walked up the aisle together arm in arm…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The wedding celebration lasted long after the sun had set. Edward had been sitting with Harry and Sora as they ate and told jokes to one another. Harry and Sora were the first to run out of butterbeer and left him momentarily to retrieve more for them selves. Edward sat, eating contently and enjoying the sight of witches and wizards dancing with one another. He heard something across from him move, and he turned his head to see Hermione sitting across from him. She had let her long, brown hair run down her back with only a small clip to tame a few locks of her curls. Her gown reached all the way down to her ankles, cut in a low 'V' a her front and adorned in deep green gloves. She was a sight that Edward had not beheld in a while. "I've had enough of dancing for a while," she said, her voice sounding slightly out of breath. "I need a break. Have you danced yet?" she asked. So caught up in hr appearance, Edward became flustered when the conversation had been shifted to him.

"I, um, no. I don't dance."

"Oh, that's right. I remember you stood in the corner at the Yule Ball as well."

"That time was different," he tried to explain. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason he held out a hand towards her. "If you want I'll dance with you now." Surprised by his own offer Edward hesitated in taking Hermione's hand. She smiled at him and laughed lightly.

"That's alright, you don't have to prove anything to me."

"No, really I—" he was cut off at the sight of Victor Krum standing behind Hermione. He remembered him from the Triwizard Tournament and instantly wondered what he was doing at a Weasley wedding. Before he could ask, Krum had offered a hand to Hermione and in a deep, accented voice he asked,

"Care to dance?" Hermione took his hand and was lead out to the dance floor. Edward watched her go, feeling his heart sink. He shook his head, as if clearing it from a fog of some sort.

'What's the matter with me?' he wondered to himself. 'She's not my type, Winry is waiting for me at home…!' the thought stuck him as he remembered that she thought he had died. Deciding to put the whole thought out of his mind he stood and walked away from the table to find his brother. He discovered that he wasn't far away, and in fact was even watching him approach. Riku stood next to him, holding a cup of punch in his hand.

As Edward drew closer, he could see the raised eyebrow and a smirk on Riku's face. He let out a breath and stared back at him daringly. "What?" he asked. Riku shrugged at him and took as sip of punch.

"Weren't you going to dance?" asked Alphonse. He looked up to Al with a frown and a flat look.

"You know I don't do things like that. I'd rather train than dance to some corny wedding music."

"Then, you weren't asking Hermione?" Riku queered. Edward folded his arms, looking to him.

"No."

"Then what were you doing, brother?"

"I was… offering my napkin to her."

"Why?"

"She spilled something on her dress."

"It looks fine to me." said Riku.

"Good, then the napkin worked." He snorted.

"Hey umm, Edward," Riku took a step closer to his side and slung his arm around his shoulders. "Al and I couldn't help but notice… there wasn't anything in your hand."

Edward stiffened.

"Well, that's because, erm…"

"And by the way we also noticed her dress to, at least, we noticed that the strap on her right side had slid down from her shoulder…" To this Edward turned away to conceal a red face as his mind franticly grabbed at anything else to think of. He heard the laugh of Riku behind him and turned on him to start yelling.

"Son of a— whatever it is you're trying to say, _say it to my face_!" he demanded. Riku waved him off, and merely smiled.

"Come on, don't be so defensive. We'll keep your little secret."

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, brother," said Al. "Hermione is pretty tonight, and she's nice."

"It doesn't matter. I don't like her the way you think I do. She wanted to dance and I was gonna offer when _stick-jockey_ over there stole— I mean got to her first. What's he doing here anyway?"

"He's a friend I think." Said Riku.

"Of who?"

"I don't know, but he seems to not be too fond Mr. Lovegood." Edward followed Riku's gaze over to the dance floor, where Krum stood cursing at Mr. Lovegood, then walked away. He felt his shoulder get a swat from Riku and turned.

"I'm going to see what ticked off out foreign friend." He swiftly walked around him and didn't even look back.

Riku walked right up to Krum, sitting next to him at the table. "Do I know you?" Riku asked Krum. He looked over to Riku, his cheeks still a bit red from anger.

"Do you?" he asked. Riku nodded slowly, then snapped his fingers.

"I know now, you're Krum, from the Triwizard Tournament."

"And you are that boy from Hogwarts." He realized. Riku nodded to him and held out his hand for Krum to shake. He did so, a smile tracing across their faces as their conversation began.

"Really?" asked Riku. "So the mark around Xenophiles neck is…?"

"His mark, yes." He nodded. "My grandfather died because of that man, I do not like to see it, especially someone wearing it."

Sora and Harry were walking through the large crowd of Weasley's, avoiding drunk relatives and any argument that either boys might just be pulled into. They weaved through the crowd together, all the while talking to each other about the Heartless. Their conversation was not so serious as it normally would be when the Heartless were brought up. "Big Bellys are the most annoying heartless!" said Harry as he ducked under the swinging arms of a dancing uncle of Ron's.

"The red nocturnes are worse," said Sora, "those little fire starters just zip around and I can never get a good lock on them. Plus, when you're aiming for one, another one comes up and starts hurling hot blasts at your butt."

"A big belly takes too long," Harry continued. Finally, both boys were able to stand and talk without having to avoid another family member. "Nocturnes you can just get rid of with a good area spell." He quieted down and looked about for a place to sit. Both boys had ventured into the 'family cluster' to get them selves a bottle of butter beer from the table, now they returned to find most of the tables taken or at least occupied. As Harry and Sora scanned the yard for a table, he spotted a wizard sitting alone. The wizard's cloud of white hair aloft his head reminded Harry of an aged dandelion, topped off by a moth eaten fez. Harry recognized the man almost instantly. He turned and nudged Sora, pointing as he did.

"It's Elphias Doge," he said, lowly. "The wizard who wrote Dumbledore's obituary."

"So?"

"He's a member of the Order, come on." Harry pulled Sora forward a few steps, then released him as they drew closer to the old, short wizard.

Both boys approached Doge. "May we sit down?"

"Of course, of course," said Dodge in a high-pitched wheezy voice. Sora looked to Harry unsure, feeling wary of his next move. He didn't say anything, but watched Dodge's reaction as Harry leaned in and spoke.

"Mr. Doge, I'm Harry Potter." he whispered.

Doge gasped. "My dear boy! Arthur told me you were here, disguised… I am so glad, so honored!" he poured both boys a glass of sparkling Champaign. Sora took one, holding it up and examining it's content before giving it a sniff. "And who is this?" Dodge asked.

"Me? Oh, my name is Sora." He smiled. Harry always knew Sora to introduce himself with his first name and never his second. Harry didn't know his last name, and wondered if he or Riku even had one. Doge nodded to him, politely.

It took Doge a few moments before he could speak, and when he did he looked Harry straight in the eye. "I thought of writing to you… after Dumbledore… the shock… and for you, as well, I'm sure…" Doge's tiny eyes began to fill with tears.

"I saw the obituary you wrote for the Daily Prophet," said Harry, "I didn't realize you and Dumbledore knew each other so well."

"As well as anyone did." he said, dabbing his eyes with a white napkin. "He was the sort of man who kept to him self, and yet you always felt so welcomed around him." He continued. Sora and Harry nodded, feeling the same way as they remembered Dumbledore.

"Mr. Doge—?"

"Oh please, boys, call me Elphias."

"Elphias, I don't know if you read Rita Skeeter's article about Dumbledore being involved with _Dark Magic_?"

Doges face filled with anger in the instant Harry had mentioned the journalist's name. "Oh yes, I have indeed. Don't let that woman, or vulture, ruin the memory of Dumbledore for you, the both of you." He looked from Sora to Harry. "Dumbledore was fine man, a true hearted person who never willed for the dark arts in his life."

"Rita Skeeter?" came the drunken slurred voice of Ron's Aunt Muriel. "I love her." The large woman waddled over in great strides, a glass of Champaign clutched in her meaty hand. She wore a hat with dancing plumes, and a move dress that made her look to the boys like a purple pear. "I've read all her articles."  
"Hello Murel," said Doge, suddenly agitated. "The boys and I were just discussing—"

"You there," she yelled back at Alphonse who happened to be sitting at a table near by with Hermione and Edward. Al looked back wide-eyed in surprise. "Give me your chair— for Merlin's sake, I'm a hundred and seven!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" He whipped around behind his own chair, picking it up and bringing it over quickly. He set it down and backed away from her. Muriel plopped her self down between Doge and Harry as she slipped right back into what she had been saying before. "Now what were you saying about Rita, Elphias? You know she's written a biography of Dumbledore? I can't wait to read it. There were some mighty funny rumors about him before he became all respected and respectable… and all that tosh."

"Ill-informed snipping." said Doge, turning a radish color. Sora and Harry glanced to one another, wondering what rumors Rita had written about. "Dumbledore was always a…"

"Yes, yes Elphis, we all know what you think of Dumbledore. I noticed that you skimmed over those sticky parts in the obituary."

"Sticky parts?" Sora asked. She nodded and turned to look at both boys.

"Oh yes, Dumbledore was said to have dabbled in some mystic dark art after the death of his sister, Ariana, a Squib."

"Muriel!" Elphis exclaimed. "You have no right to spread such horrible rumors to these boys."

"Why not? Buy a copy your self, Elphis, and you see if it's true or not." Elphis looked ready to argue back but Muriel drowned out his voice and continued. "Yes, you were there at Ariana's funeral, were you not?"

"I was," he said. "Never had there been a sadder occasion. Albus was heartbroken."

"That wasn't the only thing broken, didn't Ableforth break his nose half way though the service?"

If Doge looked horrified before this, it was nothing compared to the expression that he wore now. The boys looked from Aunt Muriel to Mr. Doge and back, with both anticipation and worry. What was going on? Why had Dumbledore never mention any of this before? Muriel cackled aloud and finished by taking another swig from her goblet. "A Coffin-side brawl! I heard Bathilda tell my mother that Ablefoth yelled at Albus, blaming him for their sister's death. Said somethin' about some kind of hair-brained scheme to make things right again, Albus did. Then he was clocked, which is odd because if he were to dual Ableforth, Albus would have won for sure."

"My god, woman— I've heard enough!" said Elphis. Regardless, Muriel turned to the boys and continued as if Elphis were no longer with them.

"Rita Skeeter no doubt knows of this, she did interview Bathilda Bagshot after all." Both boys looked to her but said not a word. She had that tone where the name alone should have impressed the both of them. "Bathilda was the family's neighbor in Godrics Hollow." Harry felt a cold chill go down his spine, he straightened in his chair and stared at Muriel. Dumbledore had been, no, lived in Godrics Hollow, the very place where his parents had died protecting him. It seemed as though Elphis could take no more of Aunt Muriel, and in a flustered fit he began to argue back at her, but she laughed and blew him off, taking a long gulp of Champaign as he went on.

Sora nudged Harry and whispered that they should leave, he didn't like the look on Harry's face. Harry didn't respond, he seemed locked into his thoughts, but another sharp nudge snapped him out of it. Without a word, both boys stood up and walked away.

They sat down at a table where no one else sat. Sora frowned, knowing Harry had been deeply troubled by what he had heard. "Harry," He looked up to him, as if waking up from some horrible nightmare. "Forget what she said, what does she or Rita Skeeter know, any way?" he asked. Sora leaned back in his seat, folding his arms and looking to Muriel with disdain. "She's just a…" whatever else it was that Sora said, Harry had blocked out.

Why? Why had Dumbledore never told him that he had a sister, or a brother, that he had lost family members in the place where Harry was later bourn? He wished he could ask, he wished Dumbledore were still…

A shriek broke out from the crowd, immediately followed by more gasps and shrieks when they were suddenly drown out by a loud booming voice. Sora and Harry leapt out of their chairs to face a white Patronus that held the form of a bobcat. Its voice boomed out over the entire party in Kingsly's voice. All was silent except for the patronus. _'__**The Ministry has fallen. Scrumgeour is dead. They are coming**__!'_

The spell dispersed and faded away. The guests were all hushed, their gazes transfixed to the spot where the Patronus once stood. Then, after a few moments more of silence a woman shrieked and broke the silence. The wedding guests scattered and called for one person or another, hurriedly trying to dissaperate as soon as possible. The boys were almost knocked to the ground a couple, nearly being trampled over. Harry had lost his grip and on Sora's shirt and was shoved to the ground. Before a crowd of panicked, read headed, relatives could stomp him into the ground, Sora quickly grabbed him by the back of the robe and hauled him up. Harry received only the damage to his torn robe. From that point on, Harry made sure to never lose sight of his friend.

"Harry!" came the voice of Hermione, he turned and saw her running towards them.

"Hermione," he and Sora ran to her. "Where's the others?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, everything happened so quickly— we have to get out of—!"

"Harry!" yelled Edward. He, Alphonse and Ron were racing towards them. Harry felt relief only when he later saw Riku sprinting towards them. Harry watched Riku draw closer, about to call over to him, when suddenly he felt ill! He hunched over and held his stomach, he cringed and tried to hold back the vomit he could just barely taste on the back of his tongue. His body felt hot and in a great deal of pain. Harry felt Edward's hand on his shoulder and looked up to him, feeling a bit green. Edward looked relieved for some reason. "Oh, you're just changing back." It was then that he too felt the sudden nausea creep over him. "Ulg, me too… or it was the stupid pigs in a blanket I ate…"

Hermione gave Harry back his glasses and forced the two of them to stand straighter. Harry felt better when he had lifted his head. The sick feeling had passed, but he still felt the flutter of anticipation in his chest. Sora looked around, as if making a head count to make sure they were all together. He looked to Harry and spoke in a serious tone that was unlike his usual self.

"We have to get to the Gummy Ship."

"What, the metal death trap? Why?" asked Edward.

"Safer in the air than down here." Sora answered. Edward groaned at the idea, but said not a word as he followed Sora and everyone else to the forest. Many people had disappeared by then, the yard was empty and abandon. The only ones left, the others realized, were them selves. Edward looked around the open field, allowing the others to get ahead of him before following close behind. "The ship isn't far," Sora called out. "We'll be there in no time." Riku called back. They ran until they burst through the forest's edge, jumping over the brush and avoiding trees from every direction. Those who followed Sora and Riku made sure not to lose sight of them as they ran.

Not nearly fast or strong as the others, the three wizards began lagging behind after minuets of running. Riku looked back and called behind him. "Keep up, I sense something bid and unfriendly here."

"What type of something?" Harry called back.

"Not sure, we should get out as soon as we can though!" Though, despite his warning, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were all growing tiered as time wore on. Edward noticed Harry and the others lagging farther and farther behind him. Growing worried he shouted back to them.

"Can't you run any faster than that?"

"Excuse us!" panted Hermione. Edward slowed down his pace so that he was next to them. "Some of us are in heels!"

"Fine then, here!" and with that he scooped Hermione up and began running ahead. For some reason or another, Ron seemed to run faster, as if chasing after Edward.

"Hey! HEY! Don't-leave us- behind!" he panted. Harry, not one for being left behind in danger, ran as best as he could to keep up with the both of them.

A sudden burst of smoke exploded right in front of Riku and Sora, forcing them and the others to come to a dead halt. They backed away as the smoke cleared. A floating figure was revealed, along with black skin, yellow eyes, and the garb of a tattered jacket and belts that strapped across its front in an X. The Heartless floated feet above the air It's little body bearing nothing below it's legs, and did indeed seem to end right at the edge of its a ragged purple-black coat. Claws stuck out only inches from the long tattered sleeves, and to conceal it's face it wore a wide brimmed pointed witches hat, which had the Heartless crest stitched on the front of it. It's yellow glowing eyes peered at them from under the darkness of it's hat, and gave a little gurgle of a growl.

"This puny little thing is what Voldemort sent to destroy us?" Ron sneered. "We outnumber it already. What's it gonna do, gnaw us to death?" No sooner had Ron spoken when the Heartless lifted a staff with a clear ball clenched on top of it for them to see. The crystal orb was filled with an ominous yellow light that swirled like liquid within.

Riku and Sora called out their weapons, which formed in their hands as they stood ready. Riku looked back to the wizards.

"Get back, find somewhere to hide."

"No way!" said Hermione, reaching for her wand. "We've been through much worse than this!"

"She's right," said Harry, "I'm not going anywhere." Riku frowned but turned back around to face the floating being just in time to see the witch Heatless lift its staff. Electric waves flashed from the glass orb, and bolts shot out towards the group! Edward clapped his hands and slammed them on the ground, the earth rose up in front of Sora and Riku, shielding them from the blast. Yet, instead of the bolt being grounded by the earth, it bounced off and shot straight up into the air.

Harry looked up to see the electric blasts continue to shoot upward and into the sky. The energy burst and turned red before it faded. It was only Harry who recognized the spell for what it really was. "It's a flare!" He looked back to the witch Heartless who had hardly moved except to lower its staff back down.

"Let's get it before it's buddies come running!" Sora ran at the Heartless, the Keyblade grasped firmly in his hands. He yelled as he charged, then was close enough and swung the blade and slice it sideways. Some how, he missed, for the Heartless had disappeared and was now another foot away! "What the…?" He furrowed his brow and tried again. He swung again and again, but the Heartless witch disappeared and reappeared each time, as if taunting him. Finally it raised its staff and cast bolts of lightning from the orb to Sora's chest. This powerful attack launched Sora back to where he had stood before.

Now everyone had their wands and weapons out. "It's just one little Heartless," Edward said, "if we separate, we can easily get around him and to the ship."

"Don't know if that'll work, but it's worth a shot." Riku replied. "Alright, everyone, you heard what Edward said, separate and—" but the Heartless raised its wand and once again sent out a wave of electric bolts flying their way.

"Not again," Edward said. He clapped his hands and once more the earth rose in front of them. The bolts, however, were not aimed at them, but instead, spread around each of them. When they stopped, it looked as if they had hit some invisible wall that was now illuminated softly. This eerie deep purple glow surrounded the friends connected by trees and spanned out to the length of a football field.

"It's a barrier." Riku growled. Sora groaned and rubbed his chest sorely before finally getting up.

"Guess running for it is out of the question…"

Edward clapped his hands once again, and the familiar sound of his automail being transmuted into a weapon rang out.

"This little thing just sealed its fate." Edward said. "It's still seven against one, odds are in our favor!" He smiled, then ran out away from the group towards it. He swung, expecting the Heartless' next move. When it reappeared it sent lighting his way, but Edward rolled out of the way and ran at it once more. A spell had been cast from Harry, the red light jetted the Heartless' way. Edward swung his blade just as the Heartless was hit with the stunning spell. Edward's blade sliced the Heartless; another spell from Harry and Edward struck again! The Heartless witch screeched with each impact, Edward's arm blade was doing increasing damage on it. "Just one more hit!" Edward yelled out.

"Right!" Harry waved his wand and yelled out another spell. However, the Heartless vanished before it could be stunned! Edward had lunged too far and was hit with the spell instead. He was blasted off his feet and went spiraling to the ground, rolling a foot or two before laying still.

"DAMN IT!" he yelled out. Riku and Alphonse ran to his aid as the others waited and watched out for the witch Heartless.

"At least his mouth still works." Ron muttered. The others were busy keeping a look out to where the creature had vanished to.

"There it is!" Hermione pointed to the other side of the clearing where the Heartless was. They all turned to face it as it growled angrily at them. Edward sniffed and couldn't help but give a laugh at the pathetic growl.

"What's with this thing? If this is all Voldemort can send our way, then the rest of this mission is a piece of cake." Edward turned his head to look at Harry. "Scar Head," he called, "Go on, fire away at it!"

"Got it." He called back. Harry aimed his wand and launched his spell. At that same instance, Riku's grip on Edward's shoulder suddenly tightened. Edward and Alphonse looked over to see what was the matter. Riku's gaze was aimed to the darkness of the forest.

"Something's wrong," he said. "Voldemort wouldn't send something this small to finish us off." Riku looked back to the witch Heartless who was avoiding the spells by teleporting from place to place. Hermione and Ron and Sora had began to help, but it was no use, the witch-Heartless only seemed to grow angrier with each attack. "I sense something approaching." Riku said.

There was a sudden rumble, a vibration that shook the earth beneath them. The ground shook so violently that it set every body off balance. Ron held Hermione up, Harry and Sora were fighting desperately to keep their footing and not fall over. Riku, Edward, and Alphonse ran over to the group despite the rumble. The forest shook, and a loud howl could be heard. It's large head burst through the barrier opposet of the witch, snarling and gnashing it's steel teeth at them. It was a classic Heartless design that Sora and Riku had seen over and over again. The hound looked like constructed armor pieced together, its jagged under-bite hinge could be seen on either side of its cheeks. The same bulging yellow eyes were on the front of its head. It's head was raised several stories high and looked down to them with its hinged jaw opened. Something was held in its mouth, an engine could be seen sticking between its teeth. Sora and Riku instantly realized what that hound was holding in it's mouth. "THE GUMMY SHIP!" they yelled out. The fat, metal hound gave growls like that of a deep chuckle, and opened its mouth wider. A destroyed Gummy Ship lay in its mouth; the cockpit was shattered and gone, and the engines hung off the ship by thin strands of the Gummy material. It shut its jaw and began to chew it.

"No!" Sora exclaimed. The Hound lifted it's massive head, and all Sora and Riku could do was watch as their ship was chewed on and swallowed down by the hound. "I just waxed it this morning…"

The witch Heartless raised its staff once more, and the orb turned a deep purple that swirled with a black smoke. The hound reacted as soon as that had happened, and bent down snarling. It's back half was concealed by the darkness of the forest, while it's front had somehow penetrated the barrier.

"What are the odds now, Ed?" Sora asked him.

"You tell me." he retorted, bitterly.

The hound's jaw opened, it lurched forward and snapped its jaws at them. Edward, Alphonse, Sora, and Riku only had moments to jump away with Harry, Hermione, and Ron in their arms before the jaws of death would snap down on them. The Heartless witch then floated gracefully over to the top of the hound's head, and rested it's self there, looking down on everyone.

Edward set Hermione down, Harry and Ron were set down by Alphonse. They stood and face the monster, the witch Heartless still atop of it. Edward looked back to Harry in that moment. "What's the plan?" he asked. Harry looked to him, surprised.

"You're asking me?" Harry looked from Edward, then back to the witch Heartless. "Erm… Riku," he called. Riku looked back to him. "Can you sense this things weak spot?"

"I'll try." He nodded. Harry took steps away from the group, then looked around at all of them. "Erm…" he looked from them to the large hound. "Hermione, Ron," he said "We'll fire at it and see where that gets us."

"That's your plan?" Edward exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's the best I've got so far." Harry snapped back.

"I can't sense a single weakness on the hound." said Riku. "It's as solid and sturdy as Alphonse."

"Except it's filled with one nasty pup." Alphonse added.

Harry took his wand out and began casting spells. The spells bounced off of its metallic surface. The glowing eyes had a twinkle in them, as if humored by this failed attack. The Heartless Witch once more raised its staff, and the color changed to a red-ish, black that swirled in the glass orb. The hound began beating its sharp-clawed paws against the ground. The teeth snapped at the gang, who once more had to leap back away from the lunging beast.

"We need a _rea_l plan here, Harry," Edward urged.

"I'm thinking— I'm thinking!" he said. He looked around them all, then to the hound once more. The witch once more raised the staff, and the orb turned yellow. The hound backed up and into the darkness, out of sight.

"It's gone!" Hermione gasped.

"Not for long." said Riku. He was right, for there came a loud rumble behind them. Riku grabbed Hermione up as the others dashed to the other side of the barrier. Harry stayed where he was, he watched as the hound charged through the barrier, hoping to find some sort of weakness up close that normally couldn't be seen from far away. The hound's teeth snapped viciously at the young wizard, Harry ran to avoid them. He was forced back, but tripped and was now sitting as he looked up to the hound.

"Harry!" Edward called out. Edward ran over to him, but Harry was suddenly snatched up by the hound's long tongue. Like some sort of lizard or anteater, the tongue wrapped around Harry, making it impossible to move. It lifted the young wizard off the ground and high above Edward. But Edward wasn't about to give up that easily. He clapped his hands together and slammed them on the wet earth where the saliva dripped down from the tongue. He rose up from the earth on a pillar. It stopped abruptly and flung him onto the tongue. Edward grabbed the slimy, pink tongue for dear life. He stabbed his automail blade into it to stay on, but this only flung them round and round. The hound howled out in pain and swung his head, trying to get Edward and his blade unstuck.

"Edward!" Harry yelled out as they were flung to and fro. "Let go!"

"I'm her to get you outta this, idiot!" he yelled back.

"No!" he yelled back. "Let go and tell the others! Tell Ron and Hermione to aim for the glass orb that the heartless is holding!" he yelled.

"Gotchya, Harry!" Ron yelled up to him. He and Hermione raised their wands up and fired. The Heartless Witch dodged their spells, but refused to move from its spot. Riku and Sora joined in, raising their own blades, Riku pointed it at the ever-moving Heartless Witch until he felt he had a lock on its next move. He cast his spell, and a blast of ice shot out and to the Heartless witch. It hit, and the monster was frozen in a block of ice, its staff held out of the blue prism.

"Got it!" Riku exclaimed.

"Time to bring the heat!" Sora said. He pointed his Keyblade and cast his won spell. A jet of flames, so hot that even the flame alchemist would be impressed, hit the frozen heartless and blasted it off the hound. This, unfortunately, drove the large monster even more into a rage full mode. Now not only was its tongue in great pain, but it had been burned horribly on its head. It howled and snarled and ran about, jumping and smashing its head violently into anything. It bashed into trees and flung Harry and Edward around with it.

Sora and Riku ran to the Heartless Witch, which lay on the ground in a dizzy stupor. The glass orb on its staff had only been cracked. Both Keybearers ran at the Heartless, blades raised and ready to strike. Though weakened, it apparently had the ability to flash it's self around. "Not again!" Sora cried out. He was hit from the side by a jet of flames. He held his side and looked to the heartless, then back to the gigantic hound that was crashing around. "We'll take care of this thing and get to the others!" said Sora to Riku. Both Boys turned and faced their opponent.

Meanwhile, Harry and Edward still hadn't been released. Ron and Hermione cast spells, but the metal on the hound would only deflect it, and it was too risky to go for the tong where Edward and Harry were. Alphonse ran in front of the two of them and began going after the hound. Alphonse chased after it, determined to catch his brother or Harry if either were to suddenly fall. The berserk hound changed its direction and was now charging at Alphonse. Alphonse could hear his name began called by Ron and Hermione, but ignored their warning and quickly ran to one of the trees.

The hound was only feet away from him before he placed his hands in the freshly drawn transmutation circle. The trees behind him twisted and grew rapidly, they wound around the crazed hound and stopped it in its tracks. The bound hound thrashed about, but to no avail. Edward hung on, for the tongue whipped and flung about in every which way. "Hang on Harry," he called. Edward began trying to cut through the tongue, even more of the dark blood was spurting on him and staining his hair and cloths. Harry was getting sprayed with flecks of the rotten smelling blood, but he too was doing his part. Harry bit down on the large tongue fiercely, trying to wrench himself free by any means necessary. Finally, Edward raised his arm and gave one last swipe at the thick tongue. It was cut, and both he and Harry fell onto the tree growing beneath them. Edward hit the winding trunk on his back and rolled down it, hitting brush and branches as he went. He hit the ground finally, and a second later heard Harry slam just ahead on him.

Edward lifted his head to look to Harry. The boy was still wrapped in the tongue, drenched in black blood and saliva. Harry didn't move, but the tongue twitched, then finally turned to black ooze that dispersed in a thick black mist. "Harry," he called over. Edward tried to pick himself up, managing to get onto his elbows. He began crawling over, his back ached horribly from the loom he had fell on. "Harry, say something!" he called.

Over by Sora and Riku, they were launching spells at the witch. The Heartless witch rose up above them, then lifted the cracked staff and cast lightning to shoot down at them. Sora and Riku were hit. Sora recovered and launched a freezing spell at it. He missed the witch, and was electrocuted once more. Riku was blasted back when he tried to help. The witch raised its staff once more, its yellow eyes glowed furiously down at them. Dark clouds formed over it, and lighting sparked from it. The Heartless lowered its staff and pointed it at them, small growling noises escaped from it's being. Sora and Riku looked up, waiting for the charge of electricity to surge through them painfully.

A jet of blue light shot out suddenly, and impacted the glass orb. Everything seemed to go slow in that moment as Sora and Riku watched. The staff flung out of the Heartless' claws and stuck into the ground. The orbs' light faded, and then formed spider web cracks all over the surface. The cracked orb burst open, it shattered remain falling to the ground a evaporating like dry ice! The staff turned to dark smoke and faded away. Both boys looked around to see who had cast that spell, only to find the rest of their friends around Harry who lay on the ground. His arm was lifted along with some blue smoke that was clearing away from the tip of the wand.

Sora and Riku looked from Harry to each other with a relieved smile. They quickly stood up and hurried over to the rest of them. The Heartless floated downward slowly, its head held in its claws as it screeched and writhed in what appeared to be pain. The hat fell off of its head, revealing it's black antenna and exposing the large yellow eyes fully. It gave one last screech, then faded in a cloud of black smoke. A pink heart silently floated up into the air until it disappeared. The barrier around them faded as well, and when they turned to face the hound, all they saw was smoke and another pink heart float upward and to the night sky. All that remained of the battle was the witch's hat.

Everything was silent for a moment. No one said a word, as if expecting yet another attack. Then, after a few moments, pause, they all burst into relieved sighs and cheers of hollering and laughing. Sora let out a loud 'woop' and then flung him self on Harry. He took him by the shoulders and shook him, happily. "You did it, Harry! You got 'em both! You annihilated them— you… you're covered in spit and blood…" he took his hands off, sticking out his tong in disgust "_Yelch_!" Edward and everyone else laughed at Sora as he flicked his hands free of the muck. Harry smiled at him wearily.

"I really didn't do anything. All I did was trip and be flung around helplessly." He felt Edward put a hand on his shoulder. He looked to him curiously.

"You landed the final blow." He said. "And you figured out the Heartless' weak point. Way to go, leader."

"Leader?" he blinked in surprise. "Oh no, I'm not the—"

"All votes on Harry being the leader, said 'I'," Sora announced, raising his hand. Everyone around Harry raised their hand and shouted out an 'I' as well. Harry looked around to them all.

"But I— it was all just luck! Riku is a better—"

"Forget about it, Harry," said Riku, giving him a smirk. "We all voted. Looks like you're stuck." Harry looked to him, then gave a defeated sigh.

"Oh… alright." he said. Harry was too tiered to argue anymore, in his opinion it was of very little importance on who was the leader.

"But now what do we do, now that the ship is gone?" Alphonse asked.

Edward looked away from his friends, hiding a rakish smile as he spoke. "Oh, I'm sure we won't miss it _that_ much." he said in a light voice. Riku looked over to him with a tic of annoyance.

"You wouldn't say that if you were the one who cleaned it and paid for its oil changes."

"Looks like we're going to have to apperate." said Harry. He looked over to Hermione. "Any idea where?"

"In fact, I do have an idea." she nodded. Harry looked back to his friends.

"Alright, besides Hermione, I know that Sora is the best apperator out of all of us. Sora," he looked over to him. "Could you take Alphonse and Edward with you?"

"Sure," said Sora. "I can do that, easy." Harry nodded to him, then faced Hermione once more. "Alright, so where are we going?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Everyone made it safely to Tottenham Court Road. After apperating for his first time, Edward felt dizzy and disoriented. He put a hand on his head and let out a breath as he regained himself. "I survived… and with no freakish accidents…" He opened his eyes and looked over to Sora, who gave him a look of horror. Edward realized something was amiss. "Oh crap— what? What? Is an arm coming out of my head or something? What?" he felt himself over franticly, knowing that bad things could happen if an apperation went wrong. Edward stopped when he heard Sora snicker and looked over to him in wonder and horror.

"Kidding." Sora snickered. "I love playing mind games." Sora was hit over the head by Edward's fist and sent to the ground in that instant.

"You'll have to _have_ a mind before you can play mind games, idiot!" he yelled out.

"Shh!" said Harry. "Quiet Ed." He turned back around and to them all and motioned for them to follow as he and Hermione lead them down the streets. "Sooner or later, Voldemort will find out where we are and send Death Eaters out way. We have be inconspicuous."

"Sure thing," said Edward. He held the bottom end of his bloodied, wet robe up and gave him a flat look. "But it's going to be pretty hard to fit in whit these things on, not to mention…" he thumbed back to his brother, who gave an embarrassed wave.

"Don't worry," said Hermione, "I have that covered." She pulled out her purse from the front part of her dress (causing both Ron and Edward to turn a shade of red) and held it out. "I have you cloths and provisions in here. Just try and act natural until… this'll do." she ducked into an ally way that was next to them. They all followed her in until they were far enough out of sight from the street.

"Hey, Hermione," said Sora, "When you say you've got every one's cloths, where did you say they were?"

"An undetectable, extendable charm," she tapped her purse and looked at it proudly. "A tricky charm but I think I pulled it off quite nicely." Then she set to reaching her arm in and pulling out every ones cloths.

"What would we do without you?" Edward asked when receiving his normal cloths. Hermione gave a laugh and Edward smiled. Ron shoved him out of the way and held his arms out for his cloths in that instant. Edward gave a small grumble and left to go and find a place to change.

Edward was uncomfortably hunched over by a trash can and fitting his cloths on. He was relieved to get out of those tight, stuffy robes and into something familiar. He pulled his long sleeve black and white lined vest on, fastening it at the neck with a metallic-looking plate with four bolts in it. He looked around for his coat, only to find that he was not given it. Picking up his bloody, spit-stained cloths, he walked back over to talk to Hermione. "Hermione," Edward addressed. Hermione was changing behind a large dumpster.

"Yes Edward?" she called back.

"Where's my coat?" he asked.

"I gave it to you."

"No you didn't."

"Oh dear…" Hermione came out from behind the dumpster in jeans and a long sleeve shirt that was brown and white on the sleeves. "Ed, I'm so sorry. I must have forgot…"

"No big," he sighed. "Feels weird without it though." He paused when he heard something crack. He looked down when he felt how loose his vest had become. The metal slate had cracked. "Great." He clapped his hands together, but Hermione stopped him, putting a hand on his.

"Wait Ed, I have an idea. Let me see your robe."

"You sure?" he asked, handing it to her. "It smells pretty bad."

"Nothing a bit of magic can't fix." Hermione replied. She tapped her wand to it, then the blood and spit all washed right off of the red and black robe. It grew so that it fit Edward like his own coat, and what's more, the smell had miraculously vanished. She handed it back to him and took the other cloths. "It's not much, but it's the least I could do."

"Thanks," He looked to coat over, then realized something as his eyes rested on the golden clasp of the jacket. He gave a chuckle and lowered the jacket to look to her. "You know, every time I lose my coat, you always make a new one, or even fix it."

"It's good practice for house elf clothing." she shrugged, smiling. They both shared a laugh until their attention was pulled to Harry.

Harry stood with the invisibility cloak in his arms, waiting for the others to finish changing and join him where he stood. When they did, they all surrounded him, waiting for another plan. "Well," Harry looked to them all. "I… don't really have any idea what to do next."

"Lets get off the streets for one thing." said Edward.

"I spotted a coffee shop a few blocks away." said Hermione. Harry nodded to her.

"Okay, we'll go there, then. We can't go as a group or it'll look too obvious. Sora, you and Riku go first. When anyone of us enters, pretend not to notice." Sora and Riku nodded in agreement. "It's only lucky that Hermione thought of a place to apperate where there aren't many people out, but we still need to be careful."

"Not outta the woods yet." Edward agreed. "Not with you-know-who poking his slit-nosed face into everyone's business."

"Edward, you come with Hermione, Ron and I. Alphonse, you go ahead of us though. We'll be the last ones. We'll meet up at the coffee shop and think of where to find shelter."

"You know," Ron piped up, "The leaky Cauldron entrance is near by, we could just—"

"No, Ron," said Hermione, "It's too risky. We're safer in a Muggle place like this."

"Not to sleep there," said Ron, "but, ya know, to check up and find out what's going on." He looked around for help from the others but no one seemed to agree with him though.

"Hermione's right, Ron," said Riku. "It's too risky to go back to that world for now, especially if there are Death Eater's around looking for us, which I'm sure there are."

"Never mind," said Harry, "We'll think once we get to the shop. Go on, Sora, Riku. We'll catch up with you."

Everyone left in the order that Harry had told them to leave in. Harry was in the invisibility cloak, unable to be seen by anyone as he followed Ron and Hermione down the street. Harry entered the shop quietly. He felt like he was in a library, no one was saying a word, not even those he knew, they were all looking at the table with a tiered gaze. Harry watched them from underneath the cloak as he passed by, following Ron, Edward, and Hermione closely. Harry sat down at a booth with his friends, who pretended that Harry wasn't with them. No one had much to say, Harry listened as Hermione and Ron discussed (argued) about where to go next. Harry looked from them, to a fatigued Edward. He was looking to Hermione and Ron with a blank expression. The boys check was swelling, and he was even forming a black eye. Scratches on his forehead were clear by the redness around them. Harry raised his head and looked to where Sora and Riku sat. They looked to be speaking, but Sora was barely able to keep his eyes opened, and constantly yawning every few seconds. Riku would shake him every now and then just to keep him talking. Sora had a bruise on his hand, it was large and a dark purple. He continued to rub his chest sorely as Riku nodded back and continued whispering. Even he had a burn on his neck. 'This isn't good.' thought Harry. 'They're all tiered, we have to find a place, and fast before Voldemort can find us.'

As if Edward could hear his thoughts, Edward replied to Hermione and Ron as he rubbed his face in frustration. "Grimmauld Place." he said. "How about that?"

"No, Ed," said Hermione, "Not if Snape can get in."

"Why would he go back?" Edward asked. "Look, we're all tiered," he whispered, "there's no way that after an attack like that we can just keep roaming the streets like zombies. Death Eaters are looking for all of us right now, and Alphonse can't be this exposed without drawing attention. Why not Grimmauld Place?"

"I just don't know, Edward." Hermione rubbed her forehead, realizing that she too felt the same fatigue that everyone else felt.

Harry looked away from that conversation and out to the bar, where two men he didn't know sat on the stools. Harry watched them, absent mindedly as the conversation next to him continued. One of the men shifted reaching into his large coat as if digging around for something. Harry looked back to the conversation, his mind clouded from the encounter they had all managed to survive through. "How about Baskerville moor?" Ron asked. "That's not a bad—" Ron was pulled down on the table by Edward in that instant. Both Harry and Ron had been grabbed just before a jet of green light had hit either of them! The spell had blasted into the small wall that bordered the other side of the booth, leaving a black blast spot and smoke. The boys were released, everyone looked to the men whose wands were out and pointed at them. Several more customers in the coffee shop rose up and pointed their wands or weapons at the others who sat at different tables. Edward looked around at the other two Death Eaters, they were dressed in casual wear, a green shirt, while the other a brown button up shirt. The Death Eaters in front of Harry spoke out to the other behind Riku and Sora.

"'Ow many of these brats are there?" he asked.

"Dunno," said the one in green, "We can't take them all to our lord."

"Idiots," said the one in front of Edward. "The Dark Lord only wants Potter dead," he reached out and took off the invisibility cloak. Then stepped back again, keeping his wand pointed at Harry. "And he wants the FullMetal Alchemist alive." The man looked to Edward, his gaze intensifying before he turned to Alphonse. "There he is!"

"Me?" Alphonse squeaked.

Old habits have a way of coming back to a person at the most inconvenient of times, or so it seems. As soon as Edward had heard this his face grew red with anger and he began to shout. "He's not the FullMetal Alchemist, you dolt, I am!" the others were shocked to hear such and out burst like that from Edward that they all turned to him. Apparently no one had seen his brother mistaken for him before, or how it set him off. The wizard blinked, then sneered at him as he aimed his wand back in front of Edward's face.

"Yea, righ', how could a ruddy little pip-squeak like you carry the name Full-Metal?" the others laughed at this; Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked over to Edward nervously.

"He's so small," said another one, "he'd probably be crushed under the name." They laughed again. Edward was muttering curse words under his breath, but they were so fast and angry, no one could under stand a word of it. Edward's chin was seized by the man and was forced to look up while the Death's Eater's wand now poked his chest.

"Got somethin' to say, eh,_ Speck_?" he asked in a threatening tone.

Edward was quick, so quick and so loud that his next move stunned everyone in the room. He grabbed the Death eater by the from of his heavy jacket and head butted him, smashing the man's nose and letting him fall into a bloody and unconscious state. He had been yelling as he had done that, then he ran over to the other man and grabbed him by the forearm and begin spinning him around wildly. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU COULDN'T EVEN SEE HIM WITH AN ENLARGING SPELL YOU WAND-WAVING, LILLY-ASSED, POINTY HATTED…e.c.t." this continued onward until he finally flung the men into the other side of the bar, slamming against the wall and unconscious onto the floor. A crash of pots and pans followed after on top of the dark wizard. Edward breathed heavy and looked back to the remaining wizards, feeling what little energy he had left begin to drain from him. The one closest to Sora waved his wand and aimed it at Edward. Riku was there before the Death Eaters could utter a word. He had launched over the coffee table with his blade drawn and pointed it at the man's throat.

Drop your wand!" Riku ordered the other Death Eater. He griped the hostage's shirt and pulled him closer to the blade as a threat. "Do it!" he barked. The man merely smirked and raised his wand as if daring him. He was suddenly hit from behind by the blunt edge of Sora's Kingdom Key.

"Warned you twice," said Sora, looking down at the passed out man. Riku looked to the one he was holding, and smiled.

"Lights out." he slammed the hilt of his own Key Blade onto the man's cranium. Riku let go, watching the man collapse to the floor in a daze.

Harry looked to the scene around them where all the Death Eaters lay. "How'd they find us?" Harry asked aloud.

"Good question," said Ron next him.

"Lucky guess?" Sora shrugged, but Hermione shook her head.

"No, no, it must be something else." she turned to Harry. "You don't think you've still got the trace on you, do you Harry?"

"He can't have," said Ron, "The trace breaks at Seventeen. That's wizarding law, you can't put it on an adult."

"As far as you know," said Hermione, "What if they've found a way to trace an adult?"

"Hey, I hate to interrupt when you're on a roll," said Edward, "But we've got get going or we're history. Someone's going to be looking for these guys sooner or later."

"He's right, we need a place to go, somewhere we can think quietly and get our thoughts organized." said Ron.

"Grimmauld Place." said Harry. Hermione and Ron gaped at Harry.

"Don't be silly Harry, Snape can get in there!" said Hermione.

"Ron's dad said they put up jinxes against him— and even if they haven't worked so what? We'd outnumber him."

"But—"

"Does it really matter? If I've still got the trace on me then chances are we're going to be running into a lot more Death Eaters than just Snape."

While Harry, Hermione and Ron had been arguing, the others had been busy cleaning up. Riku was busy obliterating the Death Eater's memories. Edward was behind him as Riku pointed his blade at the nameless Death Eater's head and began to obliterate his memory. "One good hit is all it takes," said Edward, "It'll knock him out for a week and he'll never remember what happened." Riku let out a frustrated breath and focused on blocking out Edward's voice. "I don't really see why we have to clean up in the first place." He muttered, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Well, think Ed," said Riku, frustrated. "A bunch of people wake up on the floor with no memory yet the place is in shambles and a man's nose has been beaten in. Wouldn't you be a little suspicious?"

"You're point?" he asked. Riku's temper was usually clam, much more so than the average boy his age, but exhaustion kicked in.

"We're covering our asses! Stop bitching and help!" Riku snapped.

"Oh…" Edward turned to help Sora and Alphonse fix the walls and other things the fight had broken.

It took only several minuets if not less to finish setting the place back to the way it was. The Death Eater, whose nose had been smashed in, was healed by Riku. They set them in the places where they had been sitting before, then turned and walked out of the coffee shop.

Edward yawned quietly and rubbed the bridge of his nose, he felt a head ach coming on. "So," Edward said, quietly, "Have we agreed on a place to go yet?" he asked.

"We have," Harry nodded. "Edward and Al, go with Sora. Hermione, Ron and I will check it out first."

"Not a chance." said Edward. Edward thumbed himself in the chest. "Sora, Al, and _I_ are going first. We're checking out the place to see if the good ol' professor stopped in."

"You can't…" Harry protested, but Edward wouldn't hear it. He walked away from him and to Sora. "You still remember how to get there?" he asked him. Sora nodded, wary.

"Sure do." he answered.

"Great, come on." Edward placed a hand on Sora's shoulder as Alphonse clunked over.

"Ed, you don't have to do this, I'm sure it's safe." said Harry. Once again, Edward ignored him, and with a loud crack, the three friends were gone and out of sight.

Harry let out a breath, looking to where Sora and the others had once stood. "He always has to be the first one." He said, quietly.

"Course he does." Riku replied. A small smile graced his lips. "If he wasn't he wouldn't be doing his job."

"What job?" Harry asked, dully. Riku looked over to Harry with a gaze that suggested he knew the both of them so much better than they themselves did.

"Honoring Dumbledore."

Edward, Sora and Alphonse landed in front of Grimmauld Place. Edward fought hard to keep balance on the stoop they had landed on. "Careful," said Sora, holding Edward up by the front of his coat. Edward allowed himself to be pulled up. He knew that if he stepped off the stoop, he endangered them by revealing where he was to any Death Eater that might be near. This was due to the fact that anyone standing outside of the house could see Edward fall out of what they would think to be thin air. The house was invisible to all those who did not know of it.

Edward adjusted himself, then proceeded to open the door of Grimmauld Place. All three entered the house cautiously. "Didn't Ron say that Moody set up a bunch of traps here before he croaked?" he asked. Alphonse lightly tapped his brother over the head for the insult.

"Yea, but he didn't say what kind." Sora replied.

"And the surprises just _keep coming_." said Edward, bitterly. The three boys stayed at the doorway, all were too nervous to move. What could spring out at them? Was there more waiting then just traps? After a few more moments of waiting, Edward furrowed his brow and gathered his courage. Before he could take a step forward though, Alphonse put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I'll go." he said. Edward took a step back, nodding.

"You're the safest bet." he agreed.

Alphonse went ahead of Sora and Edward, taking light and careful steps as he went, He walked a few steps, before stopping near the living room hallway. "All clear so far." Al whispered back. Edward nodded.

"Great Al, you…nhg!" Edward felt a horrible swelling sensation in his mouth, a sort of presser within his tongue that expanded it. Edward couldn't even speak a word nor hardly breath. The spell he had walked into wore off though. Ed turned back to Sora, judging by the way he held his hands over his mouth, it looked like he too had experienced the same uncomfortable feeling. "What was that?" Edward asked.

"The Tongue-Tying Curse Madeye set up for Snape." Sora replied.

"Sorry." said Alphonse. "I didn't know,"

"No sweat," Edward said. "Just keep going, Sora and I will be fine."

Alphonse continued, taking another few cautious steps into the room before stopping completely. Edward and Sora froze in fear as they watched what horror arouse from the carpet. The familiar figure arose in the dust slowly like a phantom. The grey figure was gliding towards them, a long bread floated down its chin, its face sunken, and empty eye sockets. Horribly familiar, dreadfully alert, it raised a wasted arm, pointing it at Edward. Ed looked to the figure with fright, how could this be? It wasn't, it couldn't be…

"No!" Sora yelled out. "We didn't kill you—" on the word kill, the figure exploded in a cloud of dust. Edward breathed and looked to Sora.

"Was that…?" Edward began. Sora shook his head.

"It was a spell." He answered. Alphonse looked to Edward and Sora.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Just a spell, made to look like the former headmaster of Hogwarts." Edward replied.

"You mean…?"

"Albus Dumbledore." He finished. "Never mind about that, lets search around and give Harry and the others the 'ok' to come here."

"I'll do that," said Sora. He turned and apperated away, disappearing on the spot.

Edward and Alphonse searched the rest of the house, yet found no sign of anything else living here. When Harry and the others had arrived back, Edward was upstairs in the room he had once slept in two years ago. There came a loud, shrilled, scream from down stairs. As soon as Edward heard it he raced over to the banister to see what was the matter. The painting of Mrs. Black began to scream and holler. _"Mudbloods, Muggle in my home"_

'That scream sounded like Hermione!' Ed thought. Edward leaned far over the banister to watch as the dusty, figure of Professor Dumbledore rose up from the carpet, his withered old arm stretched out towards them. Edward heard Sora say the same words as before, and the spell burst, just like before.

Alphonse ran out of his room and joined Edward at the banister. "Everything alright?" he asked. Edward nodded.

"Looks like Sora forgot to tell them about Ol' dusty," as Edward had named it. Alphonse made a sound like a sigh and went back to the room. Edward watched him for a moment, pondering weather he too should join the others down stairs. He merely watched them, giving a small wave when Riku had looked up to him.

Riku climbed the stairs and joined him, looking down at the others. Harry was on the couch with Hermione, Ron had gone to the kitchen to find if there was anything to eat. Riku turned to look at Edward. "Harry had another outburst." He said. Edward turned, arching an eyebrow at him.

"Outburst?" he asked.

"His scar hurt, he said he could feel the Dark Lord's anger."

"Did he see anything?" he asked. Riku shook his head.

"No, just felt anger."

"Could this day be any worse? It was suppose to be a good day, with the wedding and all."

"You think the Heartless care?" Riku asked. Edward gave a small laugh at the random thought of a Heartless wearing a wedding dress.

"Guess not." He mused, looking up at the ceiling. They were quiet for a moment. "Man, this place really brings back memories…like the time the twins almost broke my neck."

"Huh?" Riku looked over to him. Edward pointed to the staircase.

"Their trunks went flying down stairs and slammed in to me when I was right there, top step."

"Ouch." Riku chuckled. Edward looked back out to the home. He felt nostalgia creeping over him, the memories swirled around his head with every glance. Edward felt like this was home, at least he hoped it would be for a while.

Riku turned and walked away from the banister heading towards a room. As he went, he spoke out to Edward in a quiet tone. "Be careful Edward, this place isn't going to stay so friendly for long."

Edward leaned on the banister more as he looked over to Riku. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

"In times of war, peace comes in brief moments, like a breath of air before being sucked back into the stormy sea. We're all drowning slowly, so saver this breath while you still have it." And with that, Riku turned into his room and shut the door. Edward blinked in wonder, staring at the doorknob to Riku's room. He let out a sigh as he realized Riku was right. He had felt the same way when he and Alphonse were battling on their own world. He turned back out to look down to the living room. Edward had only glanced at Harry when he noticed him rubbing his scar in thought.

'How long _will _it last?'


	6. The Locket

The Locket

By

Deon (I kicked my ass into doing this. Ta-da!)

Edward awoke to the cold chill of the new morning. His gaze was pointed to the little patch of sky that was just visible from the part in the heavy dark curtains in front of the window. He could tell that it was twilight, the stars were still poking through the deep purple and black sky. He lay there quietly and steadily became conscious. He looked around his surroundings and panicked for a moment until he recognized where he lay. He felt the cold, hardwood floor beneath him and gave a small shiver. Sitting up, he, felt the result of sleeping on the floor in his neck and back. He began to massage the sore spots, giving a chuckle when his hands lightly pressed against the large burse on his lower back. That hadn't come from sleeping on the floor, but from the loom of the tree he had fallen onto after freeing him self and Harry from the tongue of the Heartless hound.

Edward yawned and turned to look around at the others who slept on the floor with him. Sora was leaning heavily against the couch his head was bent over so far that his chin was touching his chest. Alphonse was on the other side, propped up with his legs crossed, his eye holes were dark as if the armor that rested there were truly empty. Edward looked to Hermione, who was the only one resting on the soft cushions of the couch. Her hand was draped over the edge, just inches away from Ron's that was reached up against the side of the couch. Edward wondered if they had fallen asleep holding hands, it made him wonder just how much of a bond that Hermione and Ron really shared. As he thought about it, he recalled that the both of them had known each other for a long time, it also explained the strange apprehensive behavior from Ron whenever Edward was around her. He looked to Hermione as she slept, reminding himself that this was no time to have these sorts of feelings for her. His time had passed, and now she was holding hands at night with Ron. Yet, Edward wondered if what he now felt was shared with what Hermione had been feeling all this time. In the year before, the tension between she and Ron had become increasingly strained, and because of this she had found Edward's company to be more suitable. The memory of Ron and Lavender making out on the couch put a flat expression on his face as he wished desperately for the image to leave his mind. He dropped his thoughts and looked around himself.

Edward looked over to the coffee table where Riku lay on top. His long legs hung off table even as he was curled up in the fetal position. Edward noticed that Riku looked serious even as he slept.

He then glanced around, looking for Harry. He had been sleeping close to Ron and Edward, somewhat in between them and the coffee table where Riku rested.

Edward stood up and began stumbling toward the kitchen. It was still dark, too dark to see anything clearly. Edward felt around as he went. If it weren't for Hermione and Riku insisting that everyone keep together Edward couldn't careless where Harry disappeared to. However, there was the fact that there were Death Eaters out to kill him in cold blood, and Snape knew where Grimmauld Place was. 'Great, you just had to get up for a midnight stroll.' Edward thought, irritably.

He went though the house quietly, finding himself adjusting to the dim lighting as he went. He whispered Harry's name, poking his head in each room as he went along. He crept along the hall quietly, then carefully tip-toed his way up the creaking staircase. He didn't have to search far. When Edward reached the top step he stopped and listened for any sort of movement. There was shuffling in one of the rooms down towards the left side of the hall. He walked over and carefully opened the door, peeking inside. Harry could bee seen with his back turned, hunched over and looking under the bed. Edward breathed out a sigh of relief and opened the door fully, looking in. His whisper alerted Harry, who sat up and faced him as he spoke.

"What the hell are you doing at this hour?" he asked. Tiered eyes stared back at him, which turned to a weary smile upon seeing who it was that had spoken to him. He lightly held something in his right hand, a yellowed paper with writing on it. "What'chya got there?" Edward asked, walking over. Harry looked to the yellowed paper, then back to him. It seemed for a moment, he hesitated to tell him, but then handed it over with another weary smile.

"It's a letter… from my mother," he said.

Edward read the letter over, smiling as he imagined a baby Harry riding on a toy broomstick and smashing into things. When he reached the end, he noticed something odd. "The last part is missing."

"That's what I've been looking for."

"Where'd you find this?"

He held out an arm as if to demonstrate the entirety of the old room. "In here." He then stood up and began to dust himself off. "I figure if the letter was in here then so was the other piece… it must have got separated by that mangy, old, elf, Kretcher from digging around and stuff." he said. Edward looked to the letter again and then around the room, but didn't see any other scraps of paper lying around.

"We'll look for it in the morning," he said, "I'm surprised you're even up, after that battle yesterday."

"I should say the same for you. Besides, I can't sleep now," He let out a sigh, shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and suppressed a yawn. Edward gave him a flat look but said nothing as he watched his friend get back down on his knees and search.

"Alright, then I'll help you. You sure it's in here?" he asked.

"It must be. Where else could it be?" Harry answered.

"Alright, alright…" Edward muttered.

The boys searched and after an hour and a half they were forced to give up. Edward stood up next to the open dresser he had just been searching through. He and Harry were covered in sweat and dust from searching through the stuffy room for so long. Edward whipped his brow and looked over to where Harry searched in the closet. He frowned at him, then gave a loud sigh. "It's not here." He said. Harry looked over to him about to object, but paused. He closed his jaw and gave a small nod.

"Alright," he said, "So it isn't." he gave another disappointed sigh. "Looks like it just got lost with time." he admitted. Edward gave a nod.

"Hey, whatever right? I mean, this letter is old any how, and it has nothing to do with anything now, right?"

"Yea, maybe…"

He walked over to Harry, then gently elbowed him in the shoulder and smiled.

"Come on, there's bound to be something in the kitchen to eat." Edward said, wanting to distract his friend.

"I honestly doubt that." he smiled.

They both left the room, Edward leaving to door for Harry to close. Edward had made it to the stairs when he noticed that Harry wasn't following him any more. He wondered silently to himself and turned back to see Harry looking to the door in stunned silence. Edward rolled his eyes, thinking that Harry still hadn't given up on the idea of finding his mother's letter. "Hurry up," Edward urged. He saw Harry motion him over, so he reluctantly went back to his side. "What are you…?" Harry was pointing to a sign that hung on the door. Edward looked from Harry then back to the sign curiously. He read it aloud. "Do not enter without the express permission of Regulus Arcturus… Black…! R.A.B!" he exclaimed.

"Sirius's brother." Harry nodded. "R.A.B, that must mean the real locket is here."

"In the room?" asked Edward. "I didn't see it… maybe in the house somewhere?"

"Wait a second… I remember it…!" said Harry. He had been looking to Edward, but now his gaze slowly turned just past him as he seemed lost in some vague memory. "It was two years ago… when we were cleaning… we threw it out!"

"Oh crap, now what?" Edward exclaimed, panicked.

"No, wait, there's one more hope. Remember how Keretcher kept stealing everything back?" Harry asked. This had greatly calmed Edward down and he let out a breath. He nodded to Harry as an idea occurred to him.

"That must mean it's downstairs in the boiler room." He said. "Lets go wake the others and tell them."

Edward turned, but Harry stopped him. Edward looked back to Harry who held his hand on his right shoulder, firmly.

"Maybe we shouldn't, not yet anyway."

"Huh?" Edward turned back. "This is big news, if it's here,"

"And if it's not it won't be too good for everyone to be disappointed this early in the search." Edward looked to Harry quietly for a few moments. He wondered when it was that Harry had grown into a leader in the short time he was elected. He gave a firm nod to Harry, who took his hand off his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go find that locket." said Edward. He rushed down the stairs with Harry right behind him.

The sun had barely just begun to rise when the boys had rushed down the flight of stairs, past their friends, and hurried down into the boiler room. Accidentally, Edward had nudged Riku's foot as he had passed. The young man was precariously placed on the coffee table as it was, and the nudge had helped him slowly start to shift his weight to one side before he fell to the ground with a loud 'thud'! He yelped and at once covered his poor flattened nose and cradled his face with his hands. His disturbed yelp had woken everyone except Sora. They looked to Riku, who was picking himself up and still had his face covered.

"Riku what's wrong?" she asked, terrified. "Is it Heartless— do you sense them— why are you holding you head like that?"

Riku spoke through grit teeth, desperately trying to keep his temper at bay. "No… I fell on my face…" He took his hand away to reveal his red nose and teary eyes. Both Ron and Alphonse let out a relieved sigh as Hermione went over to Riku to assess the damage.

Alphonse looked about for his brother and Harry, he wondered why he hadn't heard them. He soon realized that they were nowhere in sight, both boys were gone! He jumped to his feet and continued to look about, as if expecting something to come out from the shadows and grab everyone up.

"What's wrong, mate?" Ron asked.

"Brother, and Harry, they're gone!" he said. Everyone stopped and turned to him, then they to began scanning the living room for them.

"Oh great," Ron muttered. "If they're dead I'll kick their arse!" he rose to his feet and began heading away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"To find them." said Ron.

Meanwhile, down below them, Edward and Harry had both entered the boiler room together, to look around for the House Elf. The boiler room was freezing cold, much more so that any other part of the home. There was a distinct moldy smell that made Edward's nose crinkle in disgust. "Yelch, why is it always sour down here?"

"Kretcher's bed is right over there." said Harry. "Let's take a look." Harry and Edward proceeded to walk deeper into the room. Next to the boiler was the House Elf's nest. It was compiled of rags, moldy old pillowcases, and scraps of sheets. Edward held his nose as he looked through the wet, sour smelling, nest. All they could manage to find were a few pieces of silver wear, a candelabra, and a ring. Anything else that was found was just discarded and thrown to the side. No matter how hard they search, they couldn't find any sign of the little golden locket. Edward threw down the rags in frustration and sat up.

"No sign of it anywhere." Edward sighed. Harry sat up too, and furrowed his brow as he looked around the small cramped room.

"It's not over yet," Harry rose up and called out to the House Elf. "_Kretcher_!"

There was a laud crack and the House Elf stood before them. He was bent over in a bow, the tip of his long pointed nose was just barely touching his knees.

"Master," said the House Elf. "Back in the manor with his little, pint-sized, Muggle friend…"

"Come again?" Edward asked, threateningly. "I couldn't hear that incriminating mutter you just said." But the House Elf remained silently bowing. Edward did his own dark muttering as Kretcher continued with his. Harry looked from the both of them, he didn't want to point out to Ed that right then he sounded a bit like the old elf. Instead, Harry cleared his throat and spoke up, breaking the murmurs.

"Kretcher," he addressed. "There was a golden locket here, Hermione and I tried to throw it out, did you steal it back?" he asked. The old elf stood up straight and looked at Harry, then gave a slow nod. His stance was stiff, his arms were held tightly at his side. The rolls of skin that hung off of him now partly covered the tattered loincloth he wore. Edward prayed silently that it would never tear an inch while in his presence.

"Where is it now?" Harry continued to ask Kretcher.

"Gone."

Meanwhile, upstairs on the living room coffee table, Riku meditated in silence to try and find where Edward and Harry were. "They're in the house, somewhere…" said Riku. He was slowly beginning to search the house by the chain of hearts they each shared.

"Somewhere?" asked Alphonse. "Where's somewhere?"

"Give me a minuet, I just woke up and cracked my head on the floor."

"Don't be a baby, it was just your nose." said Hermione. Riku turned to her, he had obviously taken offence to the 'baby' remark.

Just then they heard a loud snort from behind the couch. Thinking it was Edward or Harry they all eagerly peeked over the couch. They were disappointed to find Sora, now laying on the floor, sprawled out and snoring. Alphonse and Riku turned away while Hermione went around and gently shook Sora awake. With a yawn he opened his cerulean blue eyes and looked up at Hermione with a groggy smile.

"Morning Hermione, are the pancakes ready yet?"

"You know we don't have hardly any food, especially pancakes. Edward and Harry are missing."

"Missing?" Sora sat up straighter. "Huh? How? When?"

"We haven't found them yet, but Riku says they're still somewhere in the house…"

"Oh, okay then." Sora yawned once more and lay back down on the floor.

"No, Sora, wake up!"

"Why? Hermione, they probably had to pee or something…"

"Together? Come on Sora."

He looked up to her, frowned, then sat up and folded his arms. Rarely would Sora ever show his grouchy side, but his battle fatigue won over his moods. "What would you like me to do about it?" he asked her, patently. "I'm sorry, but honestly, what do you want?"

"To find them of course." As soon as she had said that there was a call from down the hall.

"They're not around here." came Ron's voice.

"I'll help." Riku stood and walked towards the kitchen area. Hermione rose to her feet, forgetting about Sora, and began heading up the stairs. Sora watched her go and gave another great yawn before turning over and falling back asleep.

888

"Gone?" Harry echoed the House Elf. Kretcher nodded, his eyes shut tighter. Edward grit his teeth as he looked to the House Elf, unsatisfied with the answer. His frustration turned to Harry as he pointed to the Elf.

"He's lying, he has to be!" said Edward.

"Kretcher doesn't lie!" the House Elf snapped back. Harry looked over to Edward sternly.

"He can't lie if given a direct order from me. Cool off Ed, we'll find out who did it in a second." he turned back to Kretcher. "Who stole the locket?"

The Elf stood straight once more in a fixed stance. His arms were by his side again and his eyes shut tightly. "Mundungus Fletcher." He replied. Edward and Harry looked to the House Elf, stunned. "He stole it all, Miss Bella's and Miss Cissy's pictures, my Mistress's gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crests, and— and—" the House Elf began to sway and sob, gulping for air he finally shouted out, "—_and the locket, Master Regulus' locket! Kretcher did wrong, Kretcher failed in his orders!_" he sobbed, then ran from where he stood. Edward's instincts kicked in as Kretcher lunged for the poker that leaned up against the metal boiler. He sat on top of him, keeping him down and unable to get free by holding the elf's arms behind his back.

"Good Ed," said Harry, "Keep him there until he settles down." Edward's eyes remained focused on the squirming elf underneath him. Harry was beside him now, looking down at Kretcher as he spoke. "Right, Kretcher, I want answers. Why did you say the locket was Regulus'?" he asked. "Where did it come from?" Edward and Harry waited as finally Kretcher stopped struggling. He went silent, and remained very still, his labored heaves of breath were all that indicated that he was still alive. Wary, Edward slowly stood up, releasing Kretcher, and stood back next to Harry.

Kretcher lifted himself and sat up, tears still running down his wrinkled, old face. He looked up to them with a scowl at first then dropped it and gave out a breath. "Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord at sixteen… so proud, so proud, so happy to serve… one day, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kretcher. Master Regulus always liked Kretcher… Master Regulus said… he said…" the elf began to rock back and forward. "He said the Dark Lord needed and elf."

"Voldemort needed an elf?" Harry asked.

"For what?" Edward asked.

"Master Regulus volunteered Kretcher. It was an honor to serve the Dark Lord… so Kretcher went to the Dark Lord, he did not tell Kretcher what they were to do, but took Kretcher to a cave beside the sea."

The hairs on the back of both boys' necks stood up, chills were sent through their bodies as they remembered the dark cave near the sea. Edward didn't need Kretcher to describe any further to know where it was the elf had been. He could just see his nightmare replay in his mind. The memory of that fateful night was still all to fresh.

There had been something waiting for them, something cold and dead, and evil. The Infiri were undead carcasses that had lay in wait under the dark water that surrounded the little sand island where the real locket was suppose to have been. The dank, cold cave was silent when they had first arrived, but once Dumbledore had started drinking the potion to recover the locket from its hiding spot, the Infiri had rushed out at them. Edward fought hard to fend off the un-dead beings, as Harry poured the poisonous potion into the old wizard's mouth. He cringed at the thought of Dumbledore's screams, his cries and pleas for forgiveness. He fended off the slimy monsters, each one of them latched onto him with their boney limbs, trying to drag him down with them into the water. It took all his might to find them off, retrieve the fake Horcrux, and help Harry drag the Headmaster back to the boat. The screams, the cold, the dead faces, all of it came rushing back to him so fast that he turned away as Kretcher continued to moan and sob.

"Kretcher drank, he saw terrible things… Kretcher's insides burned. Kretcher cried for Master Regulus, but the Dark Lord only laughed at Kretcher. He made Kretcher drink all the potion then put the locket in and filled the basin up again. Then he left Kretcher there… Kretcher needed water, he crawled to the edge of the black lake… and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kretcher under the surface…"

"How did you get away?" Harry asked, and he was not surprised to hear himself whispering.

Kretcher gave him a confused look. "Master Regulus told him to come back, so Kretcher did."

"Yes, but how?" asked Harry. "Apparition?"

Kretcher looked to them as if they were asking odd questions.

"Wait, but I thought the whole point was that wizards couldn't apperate in and out of that place." said Edward.

Harry thought for a moment, then turned to Edward. "I suppose it could be because House Elves are different, and that they have different magic that can apperate. Kretcher might very well be able to go in and out of that place with ease." He looked back to Kretcher. "Is that right?" he asked. Kretcher nodded to him. "What happened next?"

"Master Regulus ordered Kretcher to take him back there… Kretcher didn't want him to go back, Kretcher tried to stop him… Master Regulus drank the potion even though Kretcher told him not to… he took out the real locket and gave it to Kretcher, then put another one in. Master Regulus told Kretcher to destroy it… to not tell the family what happened to him… then the dead hands… they dragged him down."

"But you couldn't destroy the locket, could you?" Edward asked. Kretcher shook his head.

"Nothing Kretcher did left a mark on it," he sobbed. "Now it's gone… Kretcher failed Master Regulus."

Edward looked over to Harry feeling a bit sick from the Elf's disturbing story. "Well, where'd all _that_ get us?" he asked. Harry held his chin, looking down at Kretcher in thought.

"It did give me an idea…" he whispered to Edward, though he hardly needed to. The House Elf's sobs were so loud that they could speak in a normal tone and still not disturb the elf. "If Kretcher can get past a lake of Infiri, then he can defiantly find Mundungus and bring him back here." He said, looking to Edward with a confident grin. Edward snickered at the thought of the little elf going rabid and attacking Mundungus.

"Fitting for that traitor, he'd never see it coming." Edward smiled.

888

Time passed by as Sora continued to lay there on the floor. He listened to the voices of his friends whisper harshly their comrades names in a vein attempt at finding them. Sora was starting to grow suspicious as to where they had disappeared to as well, but not so worried. He mumbled to himself as a small smile began to trace his lips. "Those two just aren't happy unless we're all running around looking for them."

"Does he disappear often here?"

Sora opened his eyes to look up at Alphonse, who was turned on the couch and peering right back down at him. At first he was surprised that Alphonse had heard what he thought to be merely a whisper, but then he smiled back up at Al and shook his head. "Nah, not often." Sitting up, Sora looked out of the small hole in the thick dark curtain that revealed the outside light. "If they do disappear, they always come back with something new to tell us. Where Harry goes, Ed isn't usually far behind."

"Oh…" the squeak of his armor sounded as he turned back around and lowered his head. Sora lifted him self up so that he could lean over the couch back. He studied Alphonse for a moment, his somber mood and his flat tone made Sora curious.

"Really Al, it's nothing to worry about."

"It's not that." He replied. "It's… it's nothing."

"Is it because Edward is hanging around Harry?"

Alphonse turned suddenly to look up at Sora. The red orbs that hung in his eye holes met the tiered, amused gaze that Sora wore. He spoke up to argue, uttering a noise, but ultimately turned back.

"Why would you think…?"

"You're silence, mostly." He shrugged. Sora gave a loud yawn as he walked around the couch and sat down on it, opposite of Alphonse. "I mean, if I were you I'd feel a little left out too."

"How did you…?"

"I just do." He smiled. Sora remembered when Riku had held that same indifferent tone and use to envy Sora of his new friends and power. "It's no big Al, we're all friends now, and Ed is just, you know, Ed. He forgets about stuff sometimes when his and Harry's mind are onto something. That must be why they've been gone for so long now."

"Not me." Al uttered in barely a whisper. Sora had been peering out around the house until he had heard that. He turned to look at Alphonse, his blue eyes studying the one red eye he could see from the profile figure next to him. Sensing Sora's stare, Alphonse stood up and quietly walked away from him.

"Wait, Al, where are you going?" asked Sora. No answer. "We really do kinda need to stay together, you know?" but still no answer. Sora let out a breath and sat back against the couch.

A few restful moments had gone by when he heard a clatter coming from behind him. Lifting his head, he tuned to watch both Harry and Edward come up the stairs. He gave a small smile, then called out to the others in the home. "Hey, guys, I found them."

"Good, tell them they're both gits!" Ron shouted back.

"Double for me." Riku chimed in.

Sora lifted himself off the couch and wandered over to them. "Well, where did you guys run off to?" he asked. "Had everyone wake up in a panic, you know?"

"We got a little carried away," Harry admitted, modestly.

"No kidding. With what?" Sora asked. Before Harry could answer, Edward grabbed Sora and shook him by the shoulders.  
"We found it, Spiky, we found the Horcrux!"

"You—what?" Sora asked. Harry pushed Edward off of Sora so the boy could regain his balance. "I don't' know what's going on, yet, but maybe we should wait for the others."

"That's a good idea." Harry nodded.

"Where did you two go?" came Hermione's voice. Edward, Harry, and Sora all looked up to the second floor banister where she stood. "You had us really worried."

"S-sorry." Edward muttered looking away. Harry gave Hermione an apologetic smile and that seemed to calm her down a bit. She let out a breath and continued to descend the stairs.

"Well the others are up stairs," she said, "lets try to scrounge up some breakfast."

Harry gave a sigh and scratched the back of his head. "There's probably nothing here but stale bread and some moldy old fruit."

"Better to look than assume." Sora reasoned. "Lets go."

Harry and Hermione set off to the kitchen while Sora and Edward stayed behind. Edward looked back at Sora's hand that had gripped him by the shoulder. He noticed Sora's thumb raised and pointed behind them, a groggy smile traced across his lips. Edward shoved Sora's hand off uncomfortably, raising an eye brow in question.

"Your brother took off that way." said Sora. "Into the hall where all the elf head are." Edward paused for a moment, confused, then realized that Alphonse ma have been looking for him along with everyone else and hadn't heard Sora call out.

"Right, I'll go get him." He nodded. He passed by Sora and headed to the door. Sora turned to watch him leave, he was tempted to stop Edward and say something to him, anything that might soften the blow of what Alphonse might have to say to him. Nothing came to Sora's mind as he watched Edward turn the corner and disappear out of sight.

Edward walked down into the halls of the old home, hurrying to catch up with his younger brother. A few moments passed by until Edward heard the squeak of Al's armor, a few moments more and Edward had caught up with him. Alphonse stood at the end of the hall, ready to turn and start heading back to the living room. The moment he saw Edward, he paused for a moment, then continued over to meet him in the middle.

"There you are, Al," Edward smiled over at him. "I was getting kinda worried that you got lost." Alphonse merely gave a nod and made the sound 'Mm,' as if to deflect what it was he said.

"So, where were you?" Al asked.

"Kinda of a long story, but it doesn't really matter. Harry and I just fond out where the Horcux is."

"Mmm,"

"Finally, I can't tell you how much dead ends piss me off. I thought we had lost that damned locket for good, and everything we did was for nothing. Now though— it'll only be a couple of days— maybe— until we get our hand on it! Then it's one down and several more to go. I forget how many there are, mostly because I don't listen when they're talking about wizard stuff, or I forget it…" his words trailed off when he noticed how quiet his brother had become. He stopped, putting a hand on his brother's left arm. "Alphonse?"

"Mmm?"

"What's wrong? We found the Horcrux."

"Yea, I know. That's great." he replied. "Really, I'm happy for you."

"Then what is it?" he begged. "Was it because… look I'm sorry I disappeared like that, it was only for a while and something good came out of it right? It won't happen again I promise."

"Won't it?" he asked. "You and I use to do that all the time, disappear for a while and return, it was fine as long as I was there, but now…" He turned his head away, ashamed to say anything more. His pride hurt. Edward realized his brother's fear, for three years he had left him in that armor, alone and without any news if he was alright and still looking for a solution. Edward bowed his head as he spoke.

"I'm not going anywhere Al, I wouldn't disappear on you for good. It just happened this morning, Harry and I didn't think we'd be missed—"

"You and Harry, it's always you and Harry! Why don't you just adopt him as your brother and throw me in the scrap pile!"

Edward looked to him, stunned and hurt. Alphonse's red, inhuman eyes glared back at him, his feeling radiated off of him an affected Edward in the worst way. It always had.

"No, Al, it's not like that,"

"Yea, well do you know that we've been waiting for you to come home and stay home? Then when we think it's finally over, that it's finished, we get news that you're dead! Dead, Edward!"

"Al, that's not my fault."

"I don't care, you were gone all that time and we haven't come any closer to retrieving our bodies since you started all this."

"That's not my fault!"

"You're the one who decided to play dead—"

"That was Roy's—"

"You're the one who said we'd get our bodies back!"

"We will I promise, I—"

"Look at me!" he yelled over Edward. Edward felt his heart ache as he looked into those angry, red, orbs. Alphonse stepped back from him, and spoke in a hushed whisper. "Look at me… can you really tell me you're any closer to finding the stone?"

Edward's gaze was now cast to the floor, guilt flooded him as silently acknowledged that he had done nothing to help out their situation. He hadn't forgotten; the thought of finding the stone weighed on his conscious heavily. He could not speak, but instead gripped his right arm and opened his mouth slightly, only to hesitate and shut it once more. The silence wore on and eventually Alphonse turned away. "Yea, that's what I thought." And he headed back to the living room.

Meanwhile, Harry and the others arrived in the kitchen and saw exactly what they had expected. The table was covered in a thick layer of dust, the cabinets and counters were bare, with no food in sight. Harry let out a long sigh. "Not a thing." He and the others spread out and began to search under the sink and in the cabinets them selves.

The kitchen had been cleaned out, though if it by Kretcher or the previous Order members it wasn't known. The room was lit by sunlight alone, which poured in through the window just above the counter. The light shadow cast it's self on the table, each pain of the window was outlined like bars. Silently, Harry wondered to himself if that were something that Sirius thought when he had been forced to remain in the home.

The kitchen's smell was none more pleasant than the depressing, bare kitchen. It smelled of mold, yet it was a nauseating smell of rot that seemed to come from everywhere, yet its source was hard to find. Hermione was forced to hold her nose when she approached the far wall of the kitchen next to the broom closet. "Ohh," she winced, "Something died in the wall," she announced.

"It probably starved to death." muttered Harry, bitterly. He sat down at the table, dusting the surface off with his sleeve as he gazed thoughtfully. "No food here… suppose one of us will have to make a run for the market under my cloak?"

"I did bring some emergency supplies in case this were to happen." Hermione reasoned.

"I'd dub this as an emergency." Sora said, hand raised and belly rumbling. She left the kitchen, leaving Sora, and Harry to sit in silence. A few moments later they heard what sounded like something large and heavy going up the steps. Both boys turned to listen to the creaking sounds of the wooden steps accompanied by the ominous squeaks.

"Al!" they heard Edward yell, "What else can I do?"

"Two years! You said four years ago that we'd be fixed in two years!"

"That was before any of this happened, Al!" there was a pause and more armor clunks, and stair case creaks could be heard. "Al!" but Alphonse didn't respond, and for a few moment there was silence, until there came a loud 'slam!'. The paining of old Mrs. Black suddenly screamed out insanities and wailed aloud.

"Muggle! Muggle in my home!" she screamed. "Filthy bilge rat! Blood traitors!"

Sora and Harry rushed over to pull the veil back over it and quiet her. Edward ran over and was the one who had pulled the black veil back over the right corner of the picture. Sora and Harry watched him climb back down from the little dresser that stood below the frame and readjust him self. He looked to them and saw their questioning and somewhat reluctant gaze. His flat expression met theirs, and he mouthed 'what?' at them. Both boys broke their silent stare and each recoiled defensively and shrugged to him. He narrowed his eyes, and mouthed '_WHAT_?' They shrugged again and turned to head back into the kitchen.

Edward followed them and sat down at the table. He cleared off the dust before him and let his head rest on his arms. Harry and Sora were silent as well, leaving them all in silent tension. The house gave a creak, as if it were a tiered old man giving a soft sigh after all the commotion. Edward looked to the sun cast window, dully. How long were they going to wait for Kretcher? Were they all just going to sit around like this until someone found out where they were? Would Al forgive him eventually? He didn't know, but he was impatient and anxious. He turned back to face the table once more, looking at the dust covered surface. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Sora was making dust doodles, and he mentally rolled his eyes at that. It wasn't until Hermione entered the kitchen when anyone said anything at all. She listed off what she had and set to work on fixing their breakfast.

"Does any of that make pancakes?" Sora asked, knowingly. Hermione didn't answer and at once began opening a large can of spam. The boys paled at the new smell that wafted through the room.

"Isn't it cruel enough that we have to stay here?" asked Edward, holding his nose, "now we have to eat dog food?" he asked.

"If you keep pestering me about the food, any of you, I'll make sure to give you the largest portion!"

Riku walked into the kitchen with Ron at his side. The moment Ron recognized that there was food being prepared, he hurriedly sat down. Riku, however, had caught a whiff of the canned meat and recoiled, holding his nose as he turned away.

"Is that the dead rat in the wall I smell?" he asked.

"That's breakfast." Edward whispered to him.

"Right, Harry where's your cloak, I'm going out." He announced. Hermione looked up and watched him cross the kitchen to get to the front hall.

"Where are you going?" she asked. Riku looked back to her just in time to watch the meat slide off the fork she held and slump back into its container. His eyes darted back up to her. As if that look alone had been his answer, he left into the hall without another word.

Several 'Kretcher-less' days had gone by, uneventful and without the slightest bit of news to brighten their spirits. As time passed, several of the housemates noticed strange people visiting the invisible number twelve Grimmauld Place.

On one particular night, Edward and Harry were playing a game of poker with a deck of cards Edward had brought with him. Sora was sitting on the kitchen counter, keeping a look out for Kretcher incase he were to appear outside. As the boys continued to play cards over at the table, Sora suddenly called them over to the kitchen window.

"Guys, come here, come here!" he whispered harshly. Edward and Harry hurried over, they could sense great concern in Sora's voice. The boys stared out the window to see another hooded figure hanging around in the streets.

"Another one?" Edward asked. Sora looked from Edward and back out the window nervously. Edward and Harry leaned over the kitchen sink to look out. They did indeed spot a man in a heavy coat with a hood over his face, he was leaned against number eleven building and scanning what he could only see as an empty lot.

"Who do you suppose it is?" Sora asked. "A Heartless?"

"Death Eater for sure." said Harry. "They can't see or hear us inside the house. If anyone does leave they better stay hidden under the cloak until a good distance away." He left the window, followed by Edward.

An hour went by and Sora was still perched on the kitchen counter, spying on the man who was trying to spy on them. He gazed out into the dark street. The only light was the street lamp's yellow glow that poured in to the velvet blackness of the kitchen around him. Harry just barely started sorting the cards when a loud crack made them leap right out of their seats. No sooner had Harry looked around the room when he heard the muffled yelps of Mundungus Fletcher on the ground before them. Kretcher held him, his old fist beat down hard on Mundungus.

"Call 'em off! Call 'em off!" Mundungus cried. Kretcher looked back to Harry with a half-mad smile.

"Kretcher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher, Master." He said. Mundungus scrambled up from Kretcher and grabbed his wand. Harry aimed and fired off an expelliarmus spell at him, sending his wand out of the crook's hand before it could even be of use. Sora caught the wand, holding it tight so it could not be stolen back. Edward ran behind Mundungus and quickly grabbed him, holding his arms behind his back with only his automale hand. He tried to resist Edward's grasp, but Edward buckled Mundungus' knees and forced him to the ground. He smelled of stale sweat and tobacco smoke. His hair was matted and his robes were stained and torn. Edward wondered what kind of man would chose to live the life of a cowering thief, but he only came up with a bad taste in his mouth from the stench.

Mundungus tried to looked from who held him, to the two who glared down at him. "Wha've I done?" he shouted. "Setting a bleedin' 'ouse Elf on me, what are you playin' at, wha've I done, lemmy go, lemmy go or I'll— _yowch_!" Edward's grip had tightened and threatened to fracture the prisoner's arm.

Edward glared down at him. "You're not in a position to threaten your way out. Knowing you, I don't think you'd ever go through with it anyway." he sniffed, disgusted by the mere sight of a traitor. His grip tightened on the man's arms once more, sending a sharp pain through Mundungus. "Alright, spill it. Why'd you turn tail on Madeye?" he demanded.

"I never said I'd give me life for ya," he looked to Harry, "No offence, but I'm no' willin' to die at _his_ hands. Dark Lord's I mean."

"Never mind about that." said Harry. He looked over to Kretcher. "You've done very well, Kretcher." he praised. The House Elf bowed lowly and took a couple of steps back from the boys. He turned his attention back to Mundungus and questioned him. "When you came here you stole something very valuable," he spoke slowly for he knew that his rage for Mundungus would boil over at any minuet. "In the cabinet… just over there," he nodded to his left, "there was a small golden locket, do you remember what you did with it?"

"Why? Is it valuable?"

"You still have it!" cried Sora, excitedly.

"No," said Edward, "This crook's wondering if he should have gotten more for it."

"That would 'ave been effin difficult… bleedin' gave it away did'n' I? For free an' everythin'. No choice."

"What do you mean, you crook?" Edward barked. Mundungus gave yet another yelp from Edward' s strong iron grip. Edward noticed how thin the thief had become, his bones could snap like twigs if he willed it.

"I was sellin' in Diagon Ally, an she come up to me an asks me if I've got a license for selling magical artifacts. Bleedin' snoop. She was gonna fine me but she took a fancy to the locket. She said if I gave it to her she's let me off that time, and to fink me self lucky."

"Who was this woman?" Harry asked.

"I dunno, some ministry hag." Mundungus considered for a moment, his brow wrinkled. "Little woman, bow on top of 'er head." He took another moment then nodded to himself. "Look like a toad she did."

Harry's wand dropped in that instant and Edward's metal hand gave a violent jerk. Mundungus howled out in pain and fell to the floor unable to catch himself because of his now broken arms. Sora looked from the shocked Edward and Harry, then to the squirming, crying Mundungus. He sighed.

"I'll go get a potion…"

Sora left to go find the bone-construction potion, while Edward and Harry guarded their new prisoner with little intent to actually watch the snibbiling thief. The news had stunned them terribly, the realization of who now held the locket was immense. Harry looked over to Edward solemnly. "It's her…" he just barely whispered.

"Umbridge." Edward's fist clenched. He looked to the floor, in his mind he saw the ministry worker's face, smug like a toad who had just captured a fly in her mouth. How she had used him, tricked him, and worse of all had cast spells on him.

"Well Ed," Harry started. His tone was calm and quiet, "What should we do?" he asked. "We've got to get that locket back from that ugly toad." Edward said. Harry was glad to hear Edward say that.

"Which means breaking into the ministry."

"We're going to need a plan…" Edward let out a breath and calmed down. There was a pause, and then he faced him. "A _real_ plan, this time."

Harry nodded back to him and then, sorted his thoughts and raked his brain of any knowledge he knew about the ministry it's self.

They suddenly heard the front door of Grimmauld place shut softly. Soft yet quick foot steps approached them. A voice, barely a whisper, spoke out from the dark depths of the hall way. "Is anyone in the kitchen?" it asked, softly. The owner of the voice knew well to whisper in the hall where the painting of Mrs. Black was hung.

"Yes Riku," Harry whispered back. "Edward and I are in here." They watched Riku emerge from the shadows with the invisibility cloak in hand. The slender teen became aware of Mundungus the moment he entered. He looked from the quietly sobbing man, then to his friends questioningly.

"So where's the locket?" he asked.

"Not here. Mundungus gave it away to Umbridge so he wouldn't be fined."

"I don't see what so important about he bloody thing!" Mundungus yelled to them. "Not enough to break my arm, any way, eh? Eh? Short-dicked bastards!" he yelled out. The boys ignored him, and he went beck to 'licking his wounds' as it were.

"Umbridge has it? I didn't see it on her."

"You— what?" Edward exclaimed.

"I'll get to that, but first," Riku reached into the long dark coat he wore, grasping something underneath it. "If breaking in to the ministry is what you're planning, I suggest you read this first." He had pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet. The news print was damp and looked as though it had been stepped on. "Found it in the dumpster," he explained, "Read the headlines."

Riku motioned for Edward and Harry to follow him over to the sink where they could read in the yellow-orange street light. The headline was printed in bold, capital letters.

WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Below the headline was a headshot of Harry Potter and Edward Elric staring right back at all three of them. Edward snorted and stepped back away from the two of them as they read. "Bastards…" he muttered. "They make it sound as though we were the ones who killed him."

"That is what they want." Riku said. "I found it odd to find your picture in the paper, Edward. It might be that they want to anger Harry enough to draw him out."

"It's almost like they know you too well, Scar Head." Edward retorted. Harry frowned over at Edward.

"I'm not that stupid, I knew it was a trick."

"Doesn't really matter, does it? We're heading into the belly of the beast anyway, aren't we?" asked Riku. "There's more," He handed the newspaper to Harry and turned the page over, pointing to a specific article. "The _Muggle-bourn register_, is now in effect."

"The— what now?" Edward asked. He walked back over and stood beside Harry, reading over his shoulder. They were quiet, each one reading the article. Slowly, as they continued, both Harry and Edward's expressions began to change.

Edward looked to the paper with disdain. "Can someone actually _steal_ magic?" he asked. "No, it's impossible— it's like someone taking alchemy. It's a bogus article!"

"What's going on?" came the voice of Sora. He walked in to see his friends standing around the newspaper. Harry began reading aloud the article to Sora as he handed the potion to Mundungus. Harry read aloud broken pieces of the article as he went, seeming to become all the more in loath with what he was seeing.

"_Magic can only pass when wizards reproduce… Muggle-bourns likely to obtain magic by theft or force… the ministry determined to root out… something… power…_" Harry finished and closed the paper. There was silence, and the only sound was a sudden crack when Mundungus had apperated away. Harry firmly handed the paper back to Riku. "It can't really be happening." He said, quietly.

"It is happening." Riku said. "I saw it my self."

"You, Riku?" asked Sora, surprised.

"What did you see?" spoke Edward.

"Two ministry workers pulled a woman right from her home, I saw it just as I was walking back." Riku went silent for the moment, allowing the shocked silence to fill the room. Edward whispered something barely audible in amazement, rubbing the bridge of his nose he plopped gently in to a kitchen chair. Riku continued, his face solemn as he recalled what he had seen not but moments ago.

"I was just walking down the street when I heard a man yelling out. For a second I thought I had been spotted, so I quickly ducked between the apartments. Two men dressed in ministry cloths walked right past me and across the street. They knocked on a door of a little house and a woman answered the door. She didn't even have time to say 'hello' before she was arrested on the spot, right in her own doorway. She was yelling her head off, saying that her father was a pure blooded wizard and to check her family tree. She was a big woman so it's easy to see how she yanked her arms out of those ministry worker's grasps. She began pummeling them, her kids were at the window shouting to her."

"What happened?" Sora whispered. Riku looked over to him, irritated that he had been interrupted, but said nothing about it.

"Umbridge arrived just then, and she raised her hand." Riku scowled as he continued. "That woman… from the moment I saw her arrive I knew that her evil smug look was not a good sign. She raised her hand, just like this," Riku raised it in front of him self, his palm up, his arm extended and at chest level. He eyed his friends for a moment, waiting for them to understand what exactly it was that that meant.

Harry stared for a moment at Riku's hand in confusion. What was Riku trying to say? He looked over to Sora who seemed to be pondering the same thing. They were quiet for a moment, then Sora let out a surprised 'oh' and struck his fist into his other hand. "She summoned the Heartless?" he asked. Riku gave him a grim nod. Harry and Edward drew in a quick breath at the mere thought of seeing such a thing.

"You're kidding." said Edward. Riku shook his head, his piercing turquoise eyes stared right back into Edward's.

"She summoned up a couple of them, small, they looked like fiendish kittens. Cute in a disgusting sort of way." continued Riku.

"D'ya think the ministry sent that hound and that other Heartless after us last week?" Sora asked.

"I don't know. But what I saw was this. Once they subdued the woman with a stunning spell, Umbridge some how opened a dark portal that swallowed the woman. Umbridge and the ministry workers left a second after that."

"How can she summon Heartless?" Harry asked. "And open portals?"

"I don't know, but the Heartless are attracted to those with darkness and hate in their hearts. Sure, they'll follow you, maybe even obey for a time, but in the end you'll lose your heart." Silence followed as they each processed what it was they had just heard.

Edward turned to Harry from where he sat, but his stare peered angrily away from him. Edward interrupted his silence without a moments hesitation.

"The ministry have Heartless, a Horcrux, and are trying to imprison Muggle bourns. This is getting worse and worse every moment we sit here and wait."

"Foolishly running into the Ministry will kill us, and imprison you." Harry spoke, calmly. His green eyes remained focused in front of himself as he thought. He stood erect with his hands in his pockets, the glare from his glasses blocked his eyes. Edward became slightly impatient from Harry's silence and cool demeanor.

"We need to do _something_! We can't sit around forever and make a plans. Humanity is being whipped off the face of our worlds, race by race! It'll start with the Heartless devouring the Muggles, then when Voldemort gets his hands on the stone, who knows what he'll do!"

"It hasn't happened yet, and we can't panic over every bit of news we hear…" Harry's words trailed off. He turned his head to look at Riku, only one eye was free from the glare. "Do you have any suggestions?" he asked.

Riku unfazed by Harry's commanding tone, leaned back on the kitchen counter and held his chin in thought. After a few moments, he spoke as if listing off a shopping list. "Observation… disguises, potions, a location… infiltration. Does that sound about right?" he opened an eye, giving him a sly smile. Harry looked over to Edward, the darkness cast a shadow over his eyes. Edward noticed the sudden change in his friend and wondered what it was that made Harry just snap to command so smoothly.

"We're all going to take shifts observing the Ministry from the outside, from there we'll be able to pick up patterns and decide when to infiltrate."

"Hell, I remember the Ministry well enough! Let's just go in there, under the cloak, then sneak back out," said Edward.

"It's not that simple, and they probably have detectors at all the entrances in case anyone would want to sneak in. All we can do for now is watch… and wait." The news didn't set well with Edward, and though he felt the flames of anger burn within him, he obeys Harry and clamed himself. The situation on his world, the one here, it was all the same, just a different map. He hadn't panicked before, and he wasn't going to let him self go now. He tugged at his right sleeve.

A.N. What's that? It sounds a bit familiar… nu-uh~! Okay, okay, so we've been busy— and I'll admit I'm bored with the idea. Now, since Eden gave me some great new ideas (don't sweat it), I think we're going to be back in Heartless Hallows business. Expect TT and PH revisions as well folks!

Deon K

P.S., Eden writes the next chapter. (unless she makes me do it again)


	7. The Story So Far

The Story So Far

By Eden

Down in the darkest recesses of Voldemort's current residence, known formally as Malfoy Manor, the Dark Lord was hard at work with his newest discovery. A small red orb, the size of a marble, was pinched tightly between his fingers. He looked to the precious stone with a grin, his eyes gleaming dangerously with delight as he fantasized over the power he would soon own. Envy, the homunculus, stared at the gleaming stone from the other side of the room. Half shrouded in darkness, his purple colored eyes studied it with a dull expression.

"So that's the newest prototype, huh?" he asked. The Dark Lord lowered the stone and turned to the creature, a smile widened on his thin lips.

"The newest model yet, made with the purest ingredients."

"A human is a human, nothing pure about it… unless it's an alchemist— which I doubt you have…"

"Oh no, you're quite mistaken there. In 'our guests' new state they become raw ingredients to the stone." He looked Envy over as he placed the stone back on the desk. "Why don't you come out of the shadows? Afraid?" he asked. Envy's eyes narrowed at him.

"This new form you promised… it's disfigured me…" He receded further back into the shadows. "I can't transform it away either."

"A side effect, nothing more." He grabbed up a candleholder with a lit candle and approached the corner where Envy sat. The Homunculus made no effort to move, and allowed the light to shine on him and reveal the product of Voldemort's experiments. Half of his face had nasty dark spots that looked like dead burses. His left shoulder had large tumors growing underneath the skin, building up several inches off the bone. He was marked with wide, green, pus filled boils that traveled down his arm and leaked every so often. Bones had mutated out of his skin, they were curled and looked like an extra set of rib cages that were jagged and course.

Voldemort studied the creature, who glared back at him angrily. Were it not for the fact that Envy was no match for the Dark Lord he would have long since killed him. His attempts in the past had failed, from disguising as Worm Tail to leaping directly out of the shadows, nothing had worked to free himself. Magic worked its way, cursing Envy into submission. Voldemort would kill him several times until he had but only one stone left in his belly, then he'd crawl and beg for his existence, frightened by the dark abyss known as death. Perhaps it was the side effects of the altered stones he had had for years now, or the sudden realization after a time that he was not in control any longer, that the Dark Lord could even calculate and regulate Envy's intake on Philosopher Stone copies that sustained him. The monster had been treated like a lab rat ever since he had shown up on the face of this planet through the Heartless. Voldemort had needed to test his creations on something, and Envy had been chosen to be the lucky receiver. Even now, against his will, he was subject to experiments that no human being could live through. Each experiment's findings would one day lead to the perfect Philosopher's Stone.

"Now Envy, don't look so lethal," Voldemort grinned, "After all, I'm letting you have the first tastes of power, am I not?"

Envy grabbed at his stomach with his black and boney left hand. A pain bore through him that would bring him to his knees at times, and had weakened the homunculus considerably.

"You're stupid findings have been killing me!" he growled. In a sudden burst of rage he leapt off the stacked crates he sat on and extended his clawed hand out in an attack. The Dark Lord pulled his wand out of his robe and waved it before him. A jet of spells hit the monster and stunned him, yet Envy was some how able to move just enough to cough as he lay on the cold stone floor. Green snot oozed from his mouth as he hacked and gasped. Envy looked to the small puddle and then slowly turned to Voldemort. The Dark Lord chuckled as he watched the snot ooze from Envy.

"Killing you? Your inability to die is why you're the perfect subject." he smiled. "Remember what all this is for, and I'm not so unfair of a man that I would not grant you an Equivalent Exchange…"

"I'm sick of listening to a _wand waver_ who thinks he a fucking _Alchemist_!" Envy spat. "What could you think to give me?"

"Your sick desire to kill the real Alchemist." He smiled. Envy's eyes narrowed at him, but Voldemort carried on in the conversation. "After all, the Heartless had mistaken you for him when they dragged you to this world, did they not?" With that he turned and walked away from the silent Homunculi. He then proceeded to ascend to the upstairs living room, a fire had already been lit, and several Death Eaters were in attendance to him. Luscious Malfoy stood nervously next to Voldemort's (formally his) large chair next to the fire. The Dark Lord seated himself, and only when he got comfortable did he bother to address Luscious. "You seem on edge, is there a problem?" he asked, his voice deadly calm.

"N-No my lord, nothing wrong."

"Don't lie, Luscious, it's a bother to have to weed out the truth from people." As he spoke his wand danced along his moving fingers, going back and forth with skill and precision, Malfoy watched it nervously.

"Nothing has gone amiss, I swear it."

"Then what is it?"

"Th-that creature you keep down there… he won't come out will he?"

"No Luscious, I guarantee it."

"How can you guarantee that such a monster would…" he was silenced by the glare Voldemort shot at him.

"If you must know, the creature and I have come to an understanding. I feed him the Philosopher's stones and he remains here in the safe confines of your manor. What the understanding really, truly is, however, is that every stone I have made for him thus far loses its power to sustain him over a short period of time and eventually fades away. He's losing life just as he gains it. He is held here and cannot leave without acknowledging his inevitable death sentence."

"What about the Alchemist you've promised him? Elric is dead."

"More question's Luscious?" his eyes narrowed. Malfoy stepped back and bowed his head apologizing profusely as he did. "Quiet, I shall now end this. Come here," he motioned for him to step closer to him. Luscious took a few steps and finally leaned down to hear what the Dark Lord had to say. "Who said anything about 'promises'?" he proceeded to cackle and hiss as if he had heard a most hilarious joke.

Luscious stood up and looked down at the Dark Lord, his fear had definitely faded out of existence when he realized that Voldemort had the upper hand on every level, every level except one… He still needed his hands on an Alchemist, and to kill the two who stood in his way to ultimate victory…

888

Edward and Harry sat in the shadows of the ally way just outside a known Ministry entrance. The sour smell of trash mixed with the rotted smell of food hung in the humid air around them. They sat uncomfortably close together, their hot breath bouncing off the surface of the cloak and hitting their face once more, making them sweat under their cloths. They watched as Ministry workers would pass by in cycles of shifts and times. They had been at this exact same routine for almost a month, and anything they had gathered in the first week had only been repeated the next week, and the week after that.

"So when are we going to do something?"

"Shh!" Harry nudged him quietly. "Shut up or someone will hear you."

"No, really, when are we going in there?"

"Shh."

"Because my butt is numb, and all I've leaned is that Bertha has a cold and Jeremy is having twins."

"What hell are you—?"

"That was the last conversation that went by!" he whispered harshly, "The last friggin' conversation. Not about the locket, or Umbridge, or anything! A cold… and some babies!"

"Shh!"

"When do we get in there and bust things up?"

"Quiet or I'll stun you."

"God, please do! Put me out of this monotonous misery."

"Alright, alright, we've seen enough for today. Lets go back and see what every one else is doing."

"I bet it's sitting on their ass's and waiting for you to come up with a god damn plan." He muttered darkly. Harry paused and turned to give him a flat look.

"Had another fight with your brother, Ed?" His voice was hostile, and yet still he had grabbed Edwards arm to pick him up at the same pace he did so as to keep them covered under the cloak.

"I guess you heard then…" he muttered.

"Hard not to." he whispered back. They began heading down the other side of the ally way towards the populated street. They continued to stay hidden under the cloak, crouching over so far that their backs were as level as a table top. "He shouts, you shout back; what's it all about?"

"I'll tell you later…"

They made their way back to the old home, past the crowded streets, through the sleepy neighborhood and back on the front step of Grimmauld place. Before Harry opened the door, Edward turned his head to see a cloaked and hooded figure waiting outside of the premises, keeping an eye out for anyone who would go near the place.

"Damn, that guy has no clue." said Edward. Once safely behind the spell, nothing that Edward or Harry said could be heard. Harry turned around and spotted their mysterious visitor again.

"Yup, he's about as clueless as we are." They entered the home and quietly shut the door behind them. Edward rubbed his sore back and bottom while Harry hung the cloak on the coat stand. "You know," whispered Harry "I suppose there really is nothing else to do anymore…"

"That's what I've been saying!" he lead Harry into the living room where they could speak more freely. Edward made him self comfortable on the couch and watched as Harry approached. "I mean, lets go in there already! What more do we need to know? The more we wait, the more likely it is that the old frog chucked the locket away."

"I've been having the same thought." nodded Harry. There was a pause, and Harry sat next to Edward and was consumed by deep thought. He folded his arms and let out a deep breath.

"You're hesitating…" said Edward.

"I don't feel comfortable leading my friends to their doom." He admitted, bitterly. The spite some how seemed to give him some ounce of strength to speak his mind. "I mean, what if I'm wrong, or something happens in there? If we're caught and it all goes awry, then what?"

"When that happens we'll figure it out." he reasoned. Harry didn't seem pleased with his answer and proceeded to rub his eyes in frustration.

"I don't know, I just… I don't want to see Ron, or Hermione, or anyone get hurt because I…" he let out another frustrated breath and leaned forward. There was silence, Edward watched as Harry thought loudly to himself. It was the kind of thinking Edward knew, where it seemed as though the person were screaming in their minds their thoughts that were all to much to contain.

"We all signed on," Edward edged closer to him. "We know what's up, Harry. You'll get us through this. You always have."

"Don't say that, makes me feel like an ass." He leaned back on the couch and nodded to himself. "Still, I suppose whether I like it or not, we'll have to go in."

"I guess so." Edward nodded.

The boys, tiered from sitting around in the sweltering August heat, sat in silence as they let the fact that they'd be infiltrating the Ministry tomorrow soak into their minds.

Harry turned to Edward, who was busy spacing out at the logs in the fireplace. "What about you?" he asked. Edward turned to him, his chin resting lazily on his hand.

"Huh?"

"You and Alphonse."

"Oh…" he leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. "Not much to say."

"That was a lot of yelling last night for having not much to say." He waited for Edward to say something but all that answered him was silence. Slowly Edward opened his eyes to stare in front of him self.

"He wants to come with us." And then there was more silence. Harry pondered what to say to make Edward feel better, but there was no way to relive him of the fact that Alphonse was to stay behind while they infiltrated the ministry. The decider had been Riku and, ultimately, the rest of the group had to agree with him. Alphonse was a giant suit of armor, even in the wizarding world that would leave quite an impression on someone. Edward didn't agree with the vote, but he agreed that it was for all their safety that he 'man the fort' while they were away. "I haven't been doing right by him, or anyone lately…"

"You've been away, what do you expect? You've been helping us and…" he paused for a moment. Edward looked over, wondering why Harry's had paused. Harry cleared his throat and continued. "Not to mention you were assigned here."

"I could have done something more."

"You couldn't have done anything… unfortunately both our worlds are in danger now. The Furor over on your world has agreed to Voldemort's terms…" Harry leaned forward so he was next to Edward, speaking lowly as if there was anyone else who would overhear them. "The most powerful people—er, Homunculi, in your world have surrendered to Voldemort. This 'Father' person was captured and thrown behind the door by the Dark Lord and the Heartless he commands… this is the last stand, our only hope." Harry didn't need to remind Edward of the state his world was in. Since Edward had discovered in the middle of the previous year that the entire Nation of Amestris was just one large transmutation circle, the Colonel and his own gang had been trying to undermine their leader. The suspicion had been aroused by the strange reports the Colonel had given him about the break in at Briggs fortress, and new discoveries on the late Lt. Hughes findings. Edward had only to then look at the map and piece the whole thing together.

At one time, after Edward's suspicions had been confirmed, the Colonel and his loyal team of five had been close to finishing a mission that would result in dethroning King Bradley, when Voldemort had stepped in and battled Father, a man who later revealed himself as the creator of all the Homunculi. In time Father had become weary from Voldemort's magic. The Homunculi did everything he could to apprehend the monster, but Voldemort was quick to retaliate, and with the aid of the Heartless he was able to drag the violent and powerful being down, down into the depths of darkness, for it was his murderous intent that had betrayed him, and allowed to so easily slip into the void. He was then sealed behind the door, to be forever trapped by his own artificial dark heart forever.

The grave news of the Amestris' unwitting hostage situation had reached Edward through the Colonel's heavily coded letters. It was learned that Bradley was kept in power to keep the citizens of Amestris unaware of what was happening around them. Every Homunculi, even Pride, had been taken hostage with the threat of the Heartless dragging them behind the door. Now gathering the Horcrux's was their last hope in defeating Voldemort and freeing both their world from their demise.

After reminding himself of the grave situation all over again, Edward nodded back to Harry. "Alphonse… he's my little brother though… he has no idea what's going on, and how can I tell him that soon… soon everyone we know will die…"

"He's with us now, we'll all look out for each other from now on, and Edward…" he put a hand on his friend's shoulder and said gravely, "He deserves to know." Then he rose up and began to walk towards the staircase.

Edward watched him for a moment before frowning then calling to him once more. "Yea easy for you to say… only child…." Harry ignored him, but he could almost sense a smile on Harry's face as he continued up the stairs.

Edward watched him leave, then he mentally prepared himself for the yelling match that he and his brother might possibly have. Edward rose up and climbed the staircase. He headed to his brother's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in." came the muffled call of Al's voice from behind the door. Edward opened the door and looked inside. Alphonse was sitting in a chair at a desk, reading a book. Edward wandered closer and began to read over Alphonse's shoulder, but the armor turned and blocked his view from it. He shut to book, revealing the title. Edward was surprised to find the words 'Basic Intro to Alchemy II' written on the front in gold lettering.

"Hey," he gave a smile, "I've been wondering where I left that thing."

"I found it under the bed here." Alphonse replied, gesturing to his side of the room, which was kept neat and tidy. It was the complete opposite of Edward's side of the room. "Want it back?"

"Nah, you can borrow it."

"Anything else?"

"Huh?" he blinked at him, taken by surprise. "Erm… what do you mean?"

"Well you knocked for a reason. If you just wanted to lye down or something you could have just walked in, but you knocked."

"Yea but only cuz,"

"What do you want?"

"I just… I just want to talk, alright?"

"Fine. About what?"

"About—"

"Did everyone change their mind?"

"N… no."

"Oh…" Alphonse began to turn back to the book when Edward reached out and gently turned him back.

"Look, Al… I have something to tell you. You deserve to know the entire truth about what has been going on."

"The truth?" he wondered. "I already know what's going on."

"You… do?"

"Yes. You, Harry, and everyone else are all looking for a way to destroy Volde—"

"No, no, not that. I need to tell you something Al… and it's not going to be easy." There was a pause for a few moments. Al leaned back in his seat, eeing his brother for a moment before he spoke.

"You're really a wizard?" he guessed, his tone flat.

"Quit it."

"The rubber duck you own turned you into a wizard?"

"Knock it off! I'm serious, Al. This… this mission isn't to save this world, to save them… it's to save us."

"Us?"

"Listen, please…!" he begged. Alphonse looked him over, studying the weary expression on Edward's face. He made a sound of annoyance like letting out one's own breath, then nodded and let him continue. Edward drew in a breath and began. "It all started back before you and I were bourn…"

"Oh, this is going to be good."

"Goddamn it Al!" Edward roared and stood up. "Shut the hell up and listen to your older brother!" his yell had filled the room. Alphonse looked to him unfazed, but quiet. Edward lowered his voice and continued. "A guy named Tom Riddle found out about other worlds, our world, when a King had arrived in Hogwarts back when Tom was still a student there. The King met with two people, the headmaster of Hogwarts and professor Dumbledore. He told them about the other worlds, and how possibly soon they might have to defend themselves against a threat from other worldly beings called Heartless."

"He went to a school teacher to warn him?" his tone was as incredulous as before.

"He didn't go to the Ministry because they wouldn't have a word of his warning. They had turned him away, and the King had known the Headmaster as an old friend… look that's not important!" Edward waved off the thought. He was surprised at how much he had remembered from what Dumbledore had shown him and Harry in the stone basin. "Tom overheard the conversation after following the strange visitor to the Headmaster's office. Since then he had become obsessed with the idea of other worlds, and then he learned about our world."

"Oh yea? How? Did he fly there?"

"No, damn it, he overheard the conversation. Our worlds, they're linked together and share the same Keyhole through The Gate. The Gate is what separates our worlds and keeps Magic and Alchemy apart. Once Tom heard the truth behind Magic, he became obsessed with the idea of a world where Alchemy had advanced over Magic." Edward paused and let out a breath. Alphonse seemed to be listening more closely by now. "Our world… our Alchemy can't stop Magic, but it can rival it. It's really the only thing that's kept me alive against a killing curse."

"Alchemy is better than Magic?"

"No, they are equal in strength an rival one another, but still have a strong link with the door. When a person, Wizard or not, dies here on this world, their energy goes to the door and can be converted to what we use as Alchemy… do you understand?" he asked. He held his hands so that the palms were facing upward. "The energy I use come from the souls on their world, the Magic they use here comes from the energy of our souls from there. The Gate, Truth, 'All Is One and One Is All'…."

"We… we support one another? The Gate can really do that?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"All this time… but then, what happens if one world is destroyed? Will Alchemy and Magic cease?"

"Yes."

"Well… so what if he found that out, why's this guy so important?"

"Tom Riddle is… You-Know-Who…" he grumbled irritably.

"Him? Why does he want to destroy our world!"

"He doesn't want to destroy our world, he wants it for himself. He wants a Philosophers Stone, Al." It was then Edward realized a flutter of excitement rise from inside of him. He watched Alphonse's reaction and found him surprisingly interested in what he had to say.

"Why would he want something he can't use?"

"Because he thinks he'll have someone who can use it."

"Who?" He paused for a moment, waiting for Edward to answer him. Edward merely gave Al a weak smile and waited for Alphonse to remember. "Wait…" thought Alphonse, "it's you… he's after you!" Edward nodded. "That's why… and when you were kidnapped… but now what?"

"Well, our world is in pretty bad shape to. He's taken down Father, and made Bradley his puppet."

"I remember the fight, I had gone with the Colonel."

"You what!?" Edward rose to his feet, looking at him with shock. "He didn't say anything about that in the report he sent!"

"I asked him not to."

"Why the hell—"

"So you wouldn't worry." He shrugged. Edward looked him over, then let out a breath and sat back down on the bed. Of course Alphonse would demand to be let in on Mustang's finding, they were related to the Philosopher's Stone after all. Edward smiled back at Alphonse, approvingly.

"Nice…"

"I learned it from you." He replied, lightly. "So that man that Father had been battling, that was _him_?"

"Yea… it was."

"I watched Father be sucked down into this mass of Heartless… he just kept getting lower and lower, and the Heartless were like some sort of puddle. When he disappeared, so did the Heartless, and nothing was left… where did he go?"

"Behind the Door to Light. It's a dimension that the Heartless dwell in, yet is filled with light, at least, that's what Sora had told me."

"So Father is gone now… the plan to turn Amestris into a Philosopher's Stone is now…"

"It's _his_ plan now… liked it so much he decided to take over it…"

"Our world… Winry, Granny and everyone, they're all in trouble… all because of him…"

"Do you understand now?" Edward asked, saddened. "I should have contacted you, I should have told you I wasn't dead, but I couldn't'. I couldn't go back, and I thought I could take care of this, fix all of this, get my hands on the stone, and go back home after it was over… then you came and… and I was ashamed of these hands..." he gripped them, turning them into fists. "These empty hands…"

Alphonse paused, shame and guilt crept up on him as he realized that Edward's death had been announced to keep him safe from being used as ransom against him. Edward hadn't forgotten their promise, he had been working on a way the entire time, he had been trying to fix Alphonse all this time. Al jumped when Edward had suddenly covered his face with his hands.

"I've failed you so many times as an older brother! I promise Alphonse, I promise that I will return you to your body, I haven't forgotten." He looked to his brother, his eyes lit with a fiery passion by the likes of which Alphonse had not seen in a very long time.

Alphonse fell to his knees and bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, brother," he started. Edward looked to him, startled and confused. "I never should have been so petty, or think that you forgot… I know how heavy this is, our burden. I… I don't mind staying back! I can do it, really! Just come back, okay?"

Edward looked down at him, then put on a smile and dragged him brother up on his feet.

"Never mind, Al. Of course I'm gonna come back. Who the hell do you think I am, anyway?" he smiled. Alphonse gave a small laugh, and Edward could feel the relief flowing off of Alphonse like a strong current. Their happy silence was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey Ed," it was Sora who had been knocking. "You can take a shower now, and dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"Thanks Sora." Edward yelled back. He listened to him leave and turned back to Alphonse. "You alright now?"

"Yup. You should probably go take that show now. You smell."

"What? How would you know?"

"That fly has been buzzing around your shoulder for the entire time we've been talking." Alphonse pointed to Edward's right shoulder where a fly did indeed perch. Edward tried to shoo the little fly away but it only flew in circles around him. Alphonse laughed as he watched Edward continue to try and swat at it.

"Goddamn it!"

888

After Edward had showered and dried off he dressed in sweat pants and his black shirt and hurried down the stairs for diner. The aromatic aroma of Kretcher's three bean soup had managed to carry all the way to the living room and up the stairs. Edward's stomach gave a growl, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Edward ran a hand through his wet locks, brushing them out of his eyes and he looked to what dinner lay before him. As soon as she sat down at the table a bowl of soup had appeared before him. Edward took a bite of the piping hot mix, admitting silently what a good cook Kretcher was. Edward ate quietly for a while, listening to Hermione, Ron, and Riku as they went over everything they thought was important to note about the Ministry. After a few moments of eating and listening, Sora managed to catch his attention.

"Anything happen today?" Sora asked. Edward shook his head and frowned.

"No," he finally answered after a spoon full of soup, "and I doubt anything will happen." He quietly went back to eating.

From his right, Edward could once more hear Hermione, Ron, and Riku's conversation. This was now a routine for them that once involved everyone at the table. With no new news in weeks, only Ron, Hermione, and Riku could organize what they knew.

"Oh," Riku snapped his fingers as he recalled something, "and I believe the maintenance Ministry workers wear navy blue uniforms."

"You never told us that." she began flipping through a sheaf of notes that she, Ron and Riku had made. "It's not in here."

"My dad told me that too." said Ron, backing Riku.

"You really should have said something, Ron." snapped Hermione.

"Does it really matter?" Ron asked.

"Ron it _all_ matters! Do you realize that the most dangerous place any of us could be right now is the Ministry? We've been over this and over this, what's the point of all those reconnaissance missions if you aren't even bothering to tell us—"

"I think we should do it tomorrow," Harry's voice rang out clearly over everyone, and silenced everything at the table. Everyone seated at the table turned to look at him.

"Seconded," Edward called out. Hermione swatted him on the shoulder in that instant, but he merely shrugged it off and muttered to his soup.

Ron looked around the table in disbelief before looking back to Harry. "Tomorrow? You can't be serious."

"We can't get anything more than what we already have, right?" asked Harry. Edward muttered softly in agreement, poking at his potatoes. Riku seemed displeased with the idea as well and spoke up in the calm manner he always did when addressing Harry's decisions.

"At least tell us that you didn't just think this up with Ed only an hour ago."

"Well, erm…" Harry paused. He shook his head and looked back to Riku sternly. "It doesn't matter when it was decided. I think the best time is now, erm, tomorrow." A silence followed that settled over the table. Hermione nervously bit her lip as Ron and Edward merely continued to eat. Sora looked from one person to another, as if lost in confusion.

"But, I didn't know we had a plan yet." he said. Edward let his spoon clatter against the side of his dish. Sora jumped and looked over to Edward, who looked at him impatiently.

"Haven't you been hearing a word of anything that's been going on?" he asked. "It's simple. We disguise ourselves as Ministry workers and go in. Me, Harry, and Hermione go to find the locket while the rest of you dig up anything on the Heartless."

"Oh… I knew that." Sora grew red in the face with embarrassment. "Erm, but I meant, what _exactly_ do we do?"

Harry answered Sora with more patience than Edward. "Once we've all assumed an identity, we'll enter and split up at the lobby. My party will search Umbridge's office on the seventh floor, Riku's party will search out the place for Heartless. If the Ministry is using them, then it's only right to assume that they're trying to cover up some secret."

"Oh, I get it." Sora nodded.

"But Harry," Hermione piped in, "It's too dangerous, we don't know what could happen."

"So waiting around is a better option?" asked Harry. "Umbridge might have already thrown the locket away, after all it doesn't open, remember? We need to get in there now."

"I still don't like it…" she muttered. Harry gave her a small smile in return and went back to eating.

It seemed strange to Edward how such a big decision could be made, and then have silence follow after it. He felt a bit of nervous tension rise inside of him. It wasn't that he wasn't eager to set out, yet he did feel that their plan was a bit shaky. He reminded himself that it was the only plan they had, and if he could think of a better one he would have already. He let out a breath and sat up a bit straighter. Deciding to take his mind of the matter he turned to Harry and was about to tell him about how he and Alphonse made up, when suddenly Harry sat up right. Edward watched curiously, Harry's eyes were wide with fear, and then he closed his eyes and clasped his hands over his scar. A scream escaped Harry, and everyone at the table jumped and watched as he fell back, continuing to clutch his head.

Riku rushed over to Harry immediately and knelt down to put a his hand on his forehead. Riku's lips moved but no sound came out as he chanted, trying to suppress whatever image that Harry was seeing, but Harry wasn't waking up, and what's worse was his screams that that filled the air sounded to be of pain. Sora stood on the other side of Harry, looking through his pockets for a vile of potion or anything that might wake him up. Riku seemed to be having difficulty and there didn't seem to be any end to the screaming. Edward, seeming to be the only one who had since in this world of spells and chanting, ran over and picked Harry up, carrying him over his shoulder. He ignored Hermione's question of what it was he was doing, and Sora's pleas to just let Riku help. He knew exactly what to do with Harry, and it didn't involve magic. He ran over to the kitchen sink, but when he tried to turn the water on, nothing came out. He cursed and ran out the kitchen and up the stairs. He ran into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Edward shrugged his friend off his shoulder and caught him, only to shove his face in the cold water.

Harry stopped screaming and woke up, sputtering and spitting out the icy cold water. He panicked for a moment, but when Edward spoke he calmed down. Harry stood up, both his face and the front of his shirt was soaked. Edward reached over and turned the shower off and then walked over and closed the bathroom door, deciding to give them some privacy from everyone else.

"You okay?" Edward asked him. Harry gave a nod before gulping in a breath. "What did you see?"

"I didn't…" Harry was about to make an excuse, but he saw the stern look on Edward's face and knew there was no other way to explain it. He took in another breath, then sat down on the edge of the tub before he spoke. "I just… I saw him murder a woman."

"Why?"

"He was looking for somebody and knocked on her door. She said that he moved… by now he's probably killed her whole family—and he didn't need to! It was like Cedric all over again, they were just there…" A silence fell over them. Edward shifted and paced a few steps before turning back to Harry and leaning on the sink.

"You're not suppose to be seeing this."

"I know."

"So… tell me, who's _he_ looking for?"

" Voldemort's looking for Gregorvitch, a wand maker."

"Why? Doesn't he have a wand?"

"Maybe he's trying to find him to explain why the last time we met his spell didn't work for some reason."

"Didn't work?"

"He's already got Ollivander as prisoner though, why would he want another?"

"Woah, did you vision that too?" he asked. Harry gave a nod. "So Voldemort's wand isn't working against you… wonder why."

"Dunno, but my wand seemed to act on it's own on that night." They went silent for a moment as they thought. Edward, having no knowledge of wands, interrupted the silence quickly.

"We should probably get down stairs and tell everyone you're alright." He suggested.

"Great…"

The next morning, everyone woke up early so that they could get to the Ministry public entrance before it opened. Hardly anyone spoke a word to each other, the house was filled with quiet anticipation. Edward walked into the kitchen to see five Poly Juice Potions sitting on the table. He counted them up, then recalled how many people were going on the mission. He looked around for Hermione or Riku, finding that they were not there. Harry was sitting at the table with Sora and eating a piece of toast for breakfast. "Hermione forgot to make another potion." said Edward.

"No, she didn't." replied Harry. "You're General Roy Mustang from the army of Central Aramatus, and you have a pocket watch to prove it."

"What?" Edward was taken back by what Harry had said. "Hey, I don't have anything on me to make me look like him."

"Hermione made a blue robe for you, and she's fixing some hair dye right now."

"This has to be the worst part of your plan!" he said, angrily. Why hadn't he been informed of this earlier? Before the rage could build up inside him he walked away and to the counter to make himself some toast.

"Sorry, Ed," apologized Sora. "Hermione didn't have enough potion. She just barely managed to make the fifth one before she ran out of ingredients."

"And dressing like Mustang is any better? Look, I'll hide in Alphonse and we'll go in together. We can say that he's—"

"You remember what Riku said."

"Well this plan sucks."

"It'll have to do." came Hermione's tiered voice. She entered, holding blue drapes and a bowl full of black dye. "Here," she handed him the dye, "go fix your hair and then help me with the uniform you'll wear."

"Uniform? You got a uniform?"

"I have blue drapes and gold tassels." She replied, bitterly.

"This… will _never_… work!" he insisted. She looked to him, flustered.

"Have you a better idea, Edward?" she snapped. "Because I'd love to hear it." The tone in her voice was a sickly sweet threat. Edward said not a word, admitting that he did not have a better plan, and sat down at the table with his toast.

The alchemist untied his yellow hair from it's braid and let it hang down over his shoulder and dip in the dye. Sora watched him with great curiously. Edward clapped his hands and placed them on his hair. Instantly, the dye looked as though it were being absorbed. All the mixture of the bowl was sucked up and traveled up the stands until reaching to roots. His hair was now a raven black color. Edward turned back to look at Hermione, who waved her wand and formed a jacket out of the drapes. The sewing needle began hemming together pieces of the coat. As the jacket began coming together, he noticed how much detail Hermione was putting into it. It was starting to resemble the General's blue jacket.

Edward acknowledged the fact that he may not be as well disguised as the others, but if anyone did notice him, all they'd see is someone who was the exact description of the General. His worries were put to rest once the blue jacket was finished. He put it on, and Hermione began placing rank badges on his chest.

Riku entered the room with Ron, setting different things down on the table. Ron listed what was in front of him aloud as Riku went back to check for anything else. "Polyjuice Potion… Invisibility Cloak… Decoy Detonators… Puking Pastries, this'll make a mess… Nose Bleed Nougat, Extendable Ears…"

"Always good to stock up with Fred and George before leaving on a mission." Sora commented, lightly. Ron gave a nod in agreement and continued to pack.

After having a light breakfast (no one had an apatite this morning) they began to head out on their way. Alphonse had come down stairs to say goodbye to everyone and wish them luck. As everyone assembled what they needed, he stood at the door with Kretcher, and Edward didn't like the sight of it. The thought of leaving his brother with the Elf made him feel like the worst brother in history. Hermione went over to Alphonse and hugged hum, telling him that they'd be back 'very soon'.

"All in one piece, I hope." he replied, lightly.

"Later, Al," said Sora, who waved and ducked under the cloak with Ron and Riku. They left the stoop and apperated out of the house, and on the other side of the street.

Edward walked up to his brother, and with a half-hearted smile, he knocked him on the side of his shoulder. "I'll be back before dinner with that horcrux in hand."

"I know," he nodded. "I'll be here when you get back."

"Right. Be safe."

Alphonse gave a shrug and a small laugh. "What could go wrong?" Edward gave a small laugh in response before turning his attention to the stoop where he, Harry, and Hermione waited for the cloak to return to them.

Riku, Ron, and Sora had been the first to travel out of the house, ducking under the invisibility cloak as they went. Then once they were safely away from the house, Hermione used _accio _to summon it back to the house. Edward ducked under the cloak with Hermione and Harry. Once they joined up with the others, they revealed themselves in the daylight.

"It'd be easier if you had inherited three of these things." Edward joked. Harry nodded, taking the cloak back from him.

They walked through alleys and stuck to crowded areas, to reach the ally near the disguised Ministry entrance. All six of them ducked back behind the wall, hiding in the dank, humid, cover of the building. Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat at the corner of the building underneath the cloak while Edward, Sora, and Riku staid back in the cover of darkness. The three boys in the dark knew not to move until Harry and the others were unrecognizable from the potion.

All the way back in the dank, putrid middle of the ally, Edward and Sora were gagging from the sweet, sour smell of garbage that they were sitting just in front of. Riku seemed calm and collected as always, the smell didn't seem to bother him in the least. Edward looked over to him, noticing that he wasn't gagging from the intense putrid stench like everyone else.

"How can you stand it?" whispered Edward, his eyes were beginning to sting and water.

"Darkness has a smell like this. I've adjusted to bad smells. Especially after I caught a whiff of those Chainers." he replied.

"Speaking of which, isn't it odd that we haven't seen them this whole time?" he asked.

"It's odd, but it feels like those Chainers are different than regular Heartless, sure they're evolved, but there's something… disturbingly different."

"Like what?"

"Well, for one thing, they smelled… _dead_." He let out a small breath and gave a small shrug. "I don't know why that stuck with me, but it felt like something was horribly wrong with them."

"There's something horribly wrong with all of them." Sora chimed in.

After a few minuets of waiting together, in silent, smelly darkness, Sora noticed something happening at the corner of the ally way.

"Hey, guys," Sora nudged both of them. Edward and Riku turned to look out the ally way when they heard a loud thump. A witch was on the ground, stunned. The boys watched as Harry and Ron ducked out from the ally way and dragged her back. "Hermione stunned her." Sora continued. "Nailed her good!"

"And now she's becoming her double." Riku chimed in. Everyone watched as Hermione plucked a hair from the woman and mixed it in with the little vile. She drank the Polyjuice Potion and quickly began shifting into a complete double of the old witch. Hermione and turned tall and lanky, her hair was a faded blond, and she had worry lines on her face. She took the old Witch's spectacles and placed them on her face.

"And we play the waiting game… again." Edward said. He leaned against the wall, making sure not to stain his blue coat with any gunk that might be hanging around. He turned his attention to the outside where he saw the new Hermione standing and waiting. She had in her hand a box of small pastries. Edward knew that those sweet little bites were charmed to make the consumer barf their brains out. He grimaced at the thought.

It only took a few minuets before a small little wizard apperated before Hermione. Edward watched, unable to hear anything she or the small wizard were saying. Hermione thrust the pastries to the worried little wizard, insisting he take one. The small, balding wizard took a pastry from her and as soon as he touched it to his tongue, he heaved.

Sora whistled softly. "Wow, that's a lot for a small guy."

"Here he goes again," said Edward, flatly. He turned his gaze away in disgust, the combination of what he saw and the smell made him queasy. Riku merely grimaced at the sight, eventually averting his gaze as well.

"Look, he's gone now." said Sora, tapping both boys on the shoulders. Edward turned back and watched as Hermione handed Ron the few hairs she had gathered from the man. The potion Ron held was mixed, and then he began to change into the short wizard with wispy white hair around his bald head.

"Man, this is taking too long." said Edward. Riku looked over to Edward silently then nodded in Harry's direction to Edward, as if giving Edward the 'go-ahead' to ask him. Edward stepped over and knelt beside Harry to whisper. "Let me go out there, I'll get three more in one shot and get this over with." he said. Harry took the cloak off and stared at him as if he were crazy. Edward's eyes seemed so sure, and they really didn't have all day to keep tricking people, they had been there for ten minuets already. Finally, Harry gave a nod to his bodyguard and nudged Edward forward.

"Hurry, but be careful." Harry urged. Edward nodded back to him quietly and walked out of the back ally quietly.

Riku and Sora walked closer to Ron, Hermione, and Harry, all watching Edward. Ron looked from Harry then back out to where Edward stood waiting.

"What does he think he's doing?" asked Ron. "He's going to screw everything up!"

"Edward thinks he can do it, and I trust him." replied Harry quietly.

"But it'll look suspicious." Hermione squeaked.

"He can do it," said Harry, "besides we're running out of time."

Edward stood waiting for a couple of wizard to pass by. He was in luck, three Ministry workers were traveling together, the tall man with a dark beard was accompanied by two normal sized wizards. The two on either side of the wizard had the same blue robes as the witch Hermione had stunned. One was blond with deep worry wrinkled around his eyes, the other was dark skinned with dread locks all pulled back. They were all laughing to one another, as if something funny had happened. They stopped when they saw Edward standing before them, his hands on his waist as he eyed them. They all stopped, the tall deep voiced wizard demanded what he was looking at.

"You," said the tall wizard, "are you the Muggle that's been snooping around the Ministry?" he asked.

"Who wants to know?" Edward sneered.

"There are repercussions for sneaking into the Ministry. Little Muggles need to be taught to obey their more evolved masters."

Edward felt his blood boil from this comment. The ministry was full of people with this idea now, he wondered how the Colonel had managed to leave unscathed.

"Go on now, shoo, get out of our way, little Muggle." The man laughed, his two friends laughing along with him."

Edward's eyes narrowed and he raised a gloved hand, looking as though he were ready to snap.

"A fight?" the bearded wizard asked, a smug grin spread across his bearded face. "Very well then." He waved his wand and shot a spell at Edward. The Alchemist ducked and hit the ground with both his hands. It was then Harry realized that Edward had been standing in a puddle the whole time! It had rested at his and the three wizard's feet, but now steam rose up and spread quickly! All the humidity in the air turned to mist that hung around the three wizards. They looked around them selves in an attempt to see through the thick mist, they didn't even hear Edward running from the side of them. He leapt behind them and struck all three of them in the head with his metal fist. All three wizards fell to the ground unconscious. Harry and Riku rushed out of the ally and helped Edward pull the three wizards back.

"Risky," said Harry, "but effective."

"These bodies will be found soon." Riku commented, "_if _they don't wake up first. We're on a race against time starting now."

"Right," Hermione nodded, "and I've gathered all the coins needed to get in." she lifted the coins up and passed them out. They were relieved to find that there were enough for each person. Riku, Harry, and Sora all quickly changed into their assigned ministry workers and took whatever they needed from the bodies to look convincing.

Quickly, while there was still mist to cover them, they rushed to the restroom which was really the Ministry entrance. Hermione separated from them, wishing them good luck as she went to the girl's side. The boys entered in their own line. Edward stood in between Ron and Sora, waiting to get in. A wizard passed by them, holding out a tin for the gold coins to allow them in. He stopped when he got to Edward, eyeing him for a moment. Sora's now deep, Jamaican accented voice could be heard behind him.

"He's wit' us." he said. The worker nodded and passed by Edward after accepting his coin.

Edward leaned to the side to get a look of what was ahead. Though, he didn't see much until he got in front of the line. Five toilets were lined up together. Edward followed the lead of his friends and reluctantly stepped into the toilet. He wondered if he was doing the right thing, but felt sure when he noticed that his boots weren't getting wet. He looked over to Harry, who looked like the tall, bearded man with the deep voice. Harry reached up and pulled the flusher, and instantly was sucked down. Edward quickly did the same thing, flushing him self down the toilet. Edward's head spun as he was sucked down the small pipe, and some how ended up outside the chute of a fireplace. Edward coughed and stood up, he had swallowed his gasp the wrong way.

Edward brushed himself off and stood up, then looked about and saw a gigantic statue of black in the center of the great Atrium. He heard someone quietly beckoning to him and looked in the direction it came from. The unfamiliar witch and wizards were standing about, waiting for him. Edward walked closer to them. H felt his heart was thump hard against his chest, he hoped that no one could recognized who he really was. He got closer to his friends, and just barely heard the last of what it was Harry was saying.

"… and Hermione, Ron and I will take the elevator."

"When you get to Umbridge's office make sure you look even in the trash can." said Sora, "She's probably thrown it away by now anyway."

"Try not to get separated." Riku chimed in. Harry nodded to Riku, then turned to leave with Hermione and Ron. Edward watched them leave for a few moments, then began to follow them. He nary took but two steps before Riku called to Edward.

"_Mustang_, the office is this way," he said. Edward turned back, questioningly to him. Sora whispered lowly so that no one who even passed by could hear him.

"Harry said that if Umbridge sees you, she'll know that it's you. You would be safer finding out where the Heartless were with us."

"He said that…?" Edward wondered. Riku and Sora began to turn and leave in the other direction, not waiting for him. Edward looked back to the tall, mean-faced, Harry who had gotten on the elevator. 'I'm trusting you on this Scar Head.' he thought. Edward ignored the impulse to watch them leave, and instead kept his gaze on the tall blond he knew to be Riku.

"Well then," the high, British voice of Riku said, "We should be going now."

"Exactly, where?" Edward asked him.

"To where ever it is we can find what we're looking for." with that, Riku turned and began waking. Not another word was spoken as the boys followed him.

They had searched for a while on the first floor, but soon gave up on the idea of something like that hiding in plain sight. Hey headed towards the elevator, but not before they heard names called out from behind them. Nobody turned until the shouts and calls became more persistent.

"Arnold, hey, Arnold!" Sora and Riku turned around, but Edward didn't dare move. A Ministry worker in deep purple robes approached them, looking to Sora. "Good thing I caught up with you when I did." he said. "There's some sort of rude charm in our office, it's causing a thunder storm and everything's soaked."

"O-oh," said Sora. "Really? Dat's bad…"

"Yes, but I think I'll find Cattermole and get him to fix up the problem. His wife is here for a trial, and I'm sure he'd be more than willing to if he thought his wife had any chance." He gave a smile that disgusted both Riku and Sora. However, though they all had a mutual want to sock the wizard, they all gave a sort of chuckle. The wizard looked to the both of them. "Well I best be on my way if I want to catch Cattermole. Arnold, Finigus." He nodded to them, then walked oly a few steps to the elevators and hailed one. Sora watched Yaxly as he stepped in to the elevator, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh I'd like to fix _his_ problem!" he said, bitterly. Riku turned and pressed the down button for the elevator.

"Put it out of your head Sora," whispered Riku "we've gotta focus." The elevator gates opened and all three walked inside at once.

"What happens if de other's run into a guy like that?" Sora asked. "I mean, get in to trouble?"

"I'll know it," replied Riku, calmly.

"How?" asked Edward.

"I've formed a strong connection with everyone, I'm reading everyone now as we go, trust me."

Meanwhile, the connection Riku had made with Harry was telling him that they had safely made it to the elevator. Ron, Harry and Hermione managed to stuff themselves in. Harry felt awkward in his new body, there was more of him then he knew what to do with. He'd find himself tilting a little to one side before having to correct himself and almost fall on his other side. The elevator doors opened up, and the snide, blond who had spoken with Riku and Sora entered. He looked to Ron, "Cattermole," he addressed. Ron avoided eye contact at all costs, as if that alone would give him away. The man stood next to 'Cattermole', looking straight ahead. "Here to console you're wife, eh?" the man asked him. "Her trial is today, after all. Next time I suggest that you marry pure blood."

Hermione gave a squeak of horror. The blond Ministry worker looked to her, but she played it off as if she were coughing. He looked back ahead of himself, his movement slick and calm. Harry knew this man was playing for something, his tone was a mock of concern that sickened him. "My office," the man continued. Harry could just see his name tag that read Yaxly on it. "is in a right state. An annoying jinx that cast a storm over it. I bet if you fix it quick I could put in a good word for your wife, and who knows what'll happen…" the doors opened, and Yaxly left. "Third floor, Cattermole." he called before the doors closed. Harry's eyes narrowed, then looked down to Ron. He seemed a bit fidgety, looking exactly like the Cattermole he was impersonating.

"What're you going to do, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Do I have a choice? I have to fix that office, or Cattermole's wife will go to Azkaban! But I don't know how to fix an office from a jinx like that…" Hermione stepped in and began instructing Ron, hurriedly.

"Use a charm first so the things won't be affected by the rain, and…"

"_What_ charm?" he panicked. There was a loud ding, and a cool female voice emitted around them.

'Third floor' it said. Ron exited the elevator, hurriedly. Hermione looked back to Harry.

"I suppose I'd better go with him, seeing as how he needs help. She hurried out of the doors as soon as they began to shut. Harry tried to stop her, but the doors shut so suddenly, and he was rising up again. Harry stood in silence as the elevator went up. He was alone now, no one to back him up or watch out for him. He felt his heart thump, and lump begin to form in his throat. The doors opened a third time, revealing who stood behind them. A hooded figure in dark blue robes walked in quietly.

"Runcorn…" he muttered to him. Harry gave a small nod in return, unsure of what else he could do. He waited for the doors to open to the floor Umbridge's office was on. "I've heard things about you, Runcorn." The cloaked man said. Harry looked down to him, but tried to seem indifferent. "I'll warn you now, get too close too the tops and they'll burn you. It's like that in all politics."

Harry gave another nod. He was sure he'd heard that voice before, but whoever it was was covering it up. The doors opened and Harry stepped out of the elevator, he looked back to see who it was that had been speaking to him, an eye, as black as onyx, glared right back at him. Raven black hair peeked out from under the dark blue hood. The doors shut, but Harry knew exactly who it was that had been speaking with him. He turned around and began walking to Umbridge's office. 'What's Mustang doing here?' he wondered quietly.

Edward, Sora, and Riku managed to make it to the bottom floor of the Ministry, in hopes of finding signs of the Heartless. The reasoning had been simple, in Sora's opinion.

"If I had a secret, I'd keep it in the basement." Sora had said.

Edward walked a few steps ahead of Riku and Sora, or 'Finigus' and 'Arnold' as their impersonations were known. He looked around himself, unable to see anything truly suspicious. The doors that lined the halls were marked with gold plates that had been engraved with the names of those within them. They proceeded with caution until finally reaching a door marked with small gold letterings, was slightly beat up and didn't seem to be kept clean at all. Edward stopped the other two and read the gold lettering aloud. "The Use and Aid of Ministry Owned Creatures Department." Edward looked up to Sora and Riku who also read what was under the sign.

"It says aut'orised personnel only." Sora read aloud.

"Guess that means I can go in." grinned Edward. He reached for the door handle and opened it up without hesitation.

"What could _you_ possibly be authorized for?" Riku muttered quietly.

Edward opened the door and looked into the white room. It was small, with hardly anything inside of it except for cluttered empty cages that were stacked near the corner of the room, and a torn up chair. There was dust everywhere and a few scratches long the walls, but they looked like they had been caused by something small. There was nothing in the room to suggest that there had ever been any Heartless. "Some department." Edward commented.

"Spread out, there might be something here that we're just not seeing." ordered Riku. The three of them searched the cages and looked around on the walls but found nothing. Edward swore a few times before turning back to his friends. He was about to say something, when the doorknob suddenly clicked. All three boys instinctively ducked behind the black iron cages and went silent as they listened to the sound of the door as it opened. Whoever it was had shut the door behind him and, as Edward looked through the bars, all he saw was a figure in deep blue robes. The stranger's face was hidden behind a hood, his robes had small golden dragons on the hem. He walked quietly, speaking not a word as he began feeling around on the walls.

Edward, Sora, and Riku watched silently, each one of them barely dared to breath for fear of being heard. Edward wondered who this man could be, he tried to see his face but the hood was in the way.

The man looked up to the light, his back to the boys as he paused for a few moments. He turned and walked over to grab a broken chair that sat uselessly in the corner. He then mended it by drawing a transmutation circle with chalk on the seat. Edward watched, growing evermore curious of who this hooded figure was. The stranger stood on the chair and blew out the candles in the chandelier. The entire room went pitch black for a few moments before the candles suddenly lit again with soft, blue flames. A section of the wall to the left of them lifted up to reveal a secret passageway. Edward's eyes widened as he watched the tunnel slowly being revealed. The man took one of the candles off the chandelier and entered into the mouth of the cave.

The boys waited patiently for the man to disappear into the tunnel, when he did they quickly ran out from hiding and stood at the mouth of the dug out tunnel. They watch the mysterious man's light get farther and farther away until it simply went out. Edward looked left to his friends.

"Well, we found an opening, lets go." he entered without another word, leaving Sora and Riku to share a nervous glance before they too followed after. Sora called the Keyblade to his side and lit up a fire at the very tip of it.

"Feel like it's been forever since I handled it." he said, quietly. "It feels good to be in the face of danger again." He spoke as if he were merely talking of the weather. Edward quietly admitted that he too had missed the sensation of adrenalin pump through him.

The passage way was dark and cold. The floor beneath them crunched as if they were stepping on dirt and gravel, making it hard to sneak up on who ever it was they were following. Edward felt Riku place a hand on his shoulder and looked up to him. He had a look like he had caught a whiff of something foul. Before Edward could ask, Riku spoke in a slow voice of disbelief.

"Death…" he said.

"You smell it?" asked Edward. Then he remembered what Riku had said earlier. Edward turned back and faced the looming darkness ahead of them. Sora looked from Riku to the abyss.

"Den dat means…"

"Hurry." said Edward. He brushed past Sora and took the lead in a fast pace.

"W-wait up!" stammered Sora. Riku caught up with them, placing his index and middle finger pressed against his temple. Riku was preparing for what would be up ahead, if they had to fight it off, then so be it. He knew that he and his friends would not be caught off guard if they were attacked.

The boys were forced to turn a corner and run down the hall. They came closer to a speck of light that grew bigger and bigger as they drew closer. They each ran in a mad dash to the light, not knowing what they would find on the other side. A cold air swept up and hit them in the face, blowing their hair and cloths back in a powerful gust. A sour, iron stench wafted by that passed quickly. Edward paid no attention to it, and concentrated on preparing for what lay ahead of them. The boys slowed to a stop when they reached the end of the tunnel. They gazed in the large stone room, the walls stretched high above their heads and curved into the ceiling. Edward could see carvings and markings that went up the wall as well, they looked familiar to him. He, Sora and Riku entered, stunned by the sudden sight of something so different from the Ministry they thought they had been in. Edward's gaze tilted downward to a stalagmite that stood erected in the middle of the wide-open cave.

Riku wandered off to the left, his gaze remaining on the carvings in the walls that stretched from the floor. The carvings formed a circle, and in the middle of it was the stalagmite.

"What is all of dis?" Sora asked, breathless. "I've never seen any t'ing—"

a loud snapped emanated from directly in front of them. Edward instinctively ran and tackled Sora to the ground, a ball of fire shot right over their heads. Edward rolled off of Sora and looked to see who had fired at them. The man in blue robes from before stood there, a white, gloved hand extended from the sleeve of his heavy robe.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" he ordered. Edward blinked in amazement, that voice sounded oddly familiar.

Riku summoned the Keyblade at his side and grew ready to attack, but Edward stood up and waved Riku off. "Wait, don't," Edward warned Riku.

"FullMetal?" the confused voice of the man called out. He reached up and took the hood off of his head. The General's face could bee seen in the dim light that some how surrounded the room. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the very same question." Edward snapped. He folded his arms and looked to Roy angrily.

"General Mustang, it's me Sora." said Sora. "And over there, dat's Riku."

"What? But how— why did you— why are you three down here?" he demanded.

"So this was your 'suspicion', huh?" asked Edward. He felt resentment towards Roy in that instant. If he had known about something like this, why hadn't he told him? Edward continued to glare at Mustang, waiting for an answer.

Mustang looked to all three of them, confused for a moment, but seemed relieved. He took a few steps forward towards them to be at speaking range. He addressed his next question to Edward as he spoke.

"Do you want to tell me what you're doing dressed as me?" he asked, sternly.

"What are you doing here dressed like that?" he snapped back. Mustang ignored his comment and continued.

"And what about Potter, his friends, and your brother? Have you run out on him to go on this little escapade?" Edward didn't like the fact that the General would jump to bad conclusions about him so quickly. He remained silent, determined not to reveal a thing. "Answer me, FullMetal. Where is Harry Potter?"

"You tell me what you're doing here and I'll tell you where he is."

"Damn it, this isn't a game!" he shouted. "We all thought you would have found some place safe, had done the right thing and staid in hiding. Now act like an adult and tell me what's going on!" thought his yelled echoed around the cave, Edward didn't so much as flinch at his words. Roy strode over to him, and stopped a foot away, looking Edward right in the eye. They stood facing each other, waiting to see who would give in first.

Sora and Riku looked from Edward, then to Roy as they too waited. Moments passed by in the fruitless contest of wills, Riku let out an agitated breath before addressing the General.

"Please inform us of where we are, sir. We're very short on time and we need answers." he spoke with urgency. They all watched as Mustang eased off of Edward, accepting defeat.

"Very well," he stood up right, placed his hands in the pockets of his robes and stood tall. He took one hand out and extended it to show off the cave around them. "This was what I was looking for the night the Minister caught me. Arthur Weasley was passing by as I was just beginning to look around. He too wanted to know where the room was kept, and was my informer of the Ministries odd experiments. Before we could go anywhere, Scrumgeour stopped us. At the time we thought he was in on the experiments and kept quiet. Seeing as how he's dead, however, its fair to say we were wrong."

"Alright," said Edward, "now tell us what this place is."

"This place is, I suspect, where they inducted the Heartless to work for the Ministry… but it feels like something more happened in here." He began looking about. "I hardly got a good look before you three ran in here."

"Sorry," Sora apologized. "We t'ought you might have been a Deat' Eater."

"Alright, I answered your question, now answer mine." Mustang demanded.

"Not yet," said Edward. "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"Needless information," he replied. "How could I know it really existed until I found it? I was going to contact you."

"And this 'something more', what is it?" Edward persisted. He wanted to learn everything he could about this cave. Mustang let out a frustrated grunt and took his hands out of his pockets.

"Look, it was only a rumor when I heard about it. I haven't been in here much longer than you three have. Now tell me where is Harry and his other friends?" he demanded.

"They're safe, for now."

" '_Safe_'? Safe where?"

"We can't tell you, exactly…" said Sora. "It'll jeopardize de mission Dumbledore gave us." Mustang looked to him with a very frustrated expression. Edward wandered away and began examining the walls as Sora and Riku took up on denying Mustang any further information.

"The mission? _That_ mission?" Roy blinked at them in confusion before furrowing his brow, angrily. "Do you think I can't be trusted? Is that why you won't tell me?"

"No," Sora raised his hands out to the General in defense. "Not'ing like that, but if you knew it might be a bad t'ing."

"What would make you think that? I'm trying to help!"

"It's too dangerous for you to help."

"And you think kids running around is a better idea?"  
"We're not kids," defended Riku, firmly. "And if Dumbledore believed we could carry out this mission on our own then we can."

As Mustang continued to argue with Riku and Sora, Edward knelt down to examine the deep groves beneath him. He ran his white glove inside of the grove, to find that it was damp to the touch. He raised his hand back up to examine the stain. A faint trace of pink ooze could be seen. Edward couldn't understand what that pink could mean. He stood back up to ask Riku what he thought, when something caught his eye. A familiar symbol was on the floor right in front of him. His memory flashed back to when Alphonse was reading the book Edward had lost. There was a symbol on the page of that book, a common symbol that represented Mercury. He looked around the floor and then saw Saturn, then sun and salt. He wondered what these signs could mean, why were they doing being carved into the very stone below them. The groves were all connected with various symbols that Edward had never seen before, a style that was very different than any transmutation circle he had ever witnessed. He followed the strange marks and grooves before he finally called out to the others.

"Guys, hey, I found something." he said. Roy was the first to rush over beside Edward and look around. Roy spotted what Edward was looking at and asked.

"Is this… is this a transmutation circle?" he gawked, amazed.

"Not quite," said Edward, "Whatever it is—"

"It ends here," called Sora, "de groves reach up this stalagmite." he pointed. They all rushed over to get a look. The narrow, straight grooves reached up half way before stopping. Edward wondered what the grooves were trying to catch in them that would come from the stalagmite.

Sora reached out to touch the stalagmite. "Ouch!" he pulled his hand back from it quickly, shaking it. Sora looked at his finger. "I pricked it…" he said.

"Do you touch everything that looks dangerous?" Riku snapped, irritably.

"Sorry…" he put his finger to his mouth to suck on it, but Edward stopped him.

"You idiot, mercury has probably been on that thing. Do you wanna be poisoned?"

"Sorry!" he cried out, again. He began to defend him self, holding his hand at the wrist as it bleed. A few drops his the grove below them, and suddenly the circle lit up with faint dark light. Roy, Edward, Riku, and Sora all looked down and took steps back in amazement and surprise. The glow only lasted a few moments before it faded once again. The room became the same soft blue light as before.

"What… the heck just happened?" Edward muttered. They all looked to Sora, then back down to the floor. Mustang grabbed Sora's hand and stretched it out, allowing more blood to drop on the floor. One the droplets hit it, the same reaction occurred.

"It doesn't take much to light up, does it?"

"But what is it?" pondered Edward. "This room must be used to make Heartless, right?"

"I don't think so." Riku looked around the room and then looked back to Sora's hand. "The smell in here makes me think that they create Chainers here."

"Chainers!" Edward exclaimed. "What— here? But how can they sneak Heartless in here to make…" he wondered to himself, then looked back to the fresh pink stain on his glove, wondering what the connection was. It all seemed familiar, but how could something with sorcery be used with Alchemy for Chainers?

"Hold that thought!" Riku announced, "We've got trouble!"

"Heartless?" Sora demanded.

"No, worse. Harry's in trouble."

"He's _what_?" and in that instant, Edward felt a hand firmly grip his left shoulder. He realized that they had slipped up and revealed Harry's location.

"FullMetal…"

"Erm, I'll explain it later— gotta go!" he ran from Roy's grip and headed out of the cave with Sora and Riku at his side. He heard his name being called but defied the General and continued to run into the dark tunnel with Riku and Sora. He couldn't feel or see what Riku could, his perception of what had gone wrong was exactly like running down the dark tunnel, unknowing of what they'd find on the other side.

* * *

((AN. Seeing as how this seemed to be going in the same pace it had before, I had to come in a give it some new angles, let you see what's going on, on all sides of the story, so the reader gets a better understanding of how the plot is modified. (sorry if anyone got double postings on their E-mails!! My bad! ~Eden K))


	8. The First Horcrux

The First Horcrux

By Deon

(I made dis!!!)

From within the depths of the underground Wizard Ministry, the friends attempt to steal back the horcrux while also digging up any information on the connection with the Heartless and the Ministry that they could find. Harry, Hermione, and Ron found themselves split apart after Ron went to go and attempt to save Cattermole's wife by repairing Yaxley's office, which had been cursed to have an indoor storm. After Hermione had run out after Ron, Harry was left by himself in the elevator as it sunk further down into the earth, stopping only when it reached the floor where he was sure to find Umbridge's office. As soon as he had snuck in though, he soon found that the locket wasn't there. However, while entering the office he had found a pamphlet writing station with several witches and wizards all writing about the dangers of mudbloods, and that Umbridge had somehow stolen Madeye Moodey's magic eye. It kept track of those who were in the writing station, it was Umbridge's substitute for having a likewise pair on the back of her head. After having distracted the pamphlet writers with a little magical devise that exploded and puffed out smoke, Harry managed to steal the eye from out of the door and quickly leave into the hall without being caught.

Harry patted the eyeball that now lay in his pocket, thinking of old Alester Moody, and wondering how the old witch managed to get her hands on it in the first place. The doors opened and a soaking wet little Cattermole wandered in.

"M-Morning." he stammered.

"Ron, it's me, Harry!"

"Harry! Blimy I forgot what you looked like!"

"Where's Hermione?"

"She was pulled away by Umbridge and is down in the court rooms. She couldn't refuse and—"

But before Ron could finish what he was saying, the lift stopped again and both boys quieted themselves. The golden gates opened and on the other side was Mr. Weasley, looking pensively down at the floor before looking back up to walk in. He noticed Harry and glared at him hatefully, Harry found it odd to be given a look like that from Mr. Weasley.

"Hello Reg," Mr. Weasley addressed Ron. Ron gave a little nod and tried his best not to look at him. "Isn't your wife in for questioning today? Er— why are you so wet?"

"Yaxley's office is raining." said Ron. "I couldn't fix it, so they sent me to get Bernie— Pillsworth, I think they said—"

"Have you tried Meteolojinx Recanto? It worked for Bletchly."

"No, I haven't. Thanks D— I mean, Arthur." The lift doors opened and Ron hurried out as soon as he could. Harry made to follow but was blocked by Mr. Weasley's arm.

"One moment, Rucorn."

The lift doors closed, and as they clanked down another floor Mr. Weasley Said, "Any idea as to what happens to those who're found guilty in court for being a _Mudblood_?"

"I don't know. Azkaban I should think."

"Don't play games Rucorn!" Mr. Weasley said, fiercely. "You know exactly what happens, and it has nothing to do with Azkaban."

Harry blinked and alarm, what could Arthur possibly mean?

"I erm… don't' follow."

"Of course you do. You know and yet you still track down good wizards like Dirk Cresswell and condemn them. What do they do to them then, eh? If not Azkaban?"

Harry's head spun with more questions, he wondered if this had anything to do with what Sora, Riku and Edward were investigating. It was then Harry remembered what else he found in Umbridge's office.

"Arthur, you know you're being tracked, don't you?"

"Is that a threat, Rucorn?" said Mr. Weasley loudly.

"No," said Harry, "It's a fact! They're watching your every move—" it was then that the elevator gates opened, they had arrived at the atrium. Mr. Weasley gave him a scathing look before leaving the elevator to shut on Harry. Harry leaned against the back of the elevator and let out a breath, wishing that he were someone other than Rucorn at this moment.

Meanwhile, at that same time, down in the lowest floor of the Ministry, the boys burst out of the cave entrance and then out of the room and raced down the halls to reach the elevator. They were all still disguised, yet their urgency would be enough to give them away. Riku, who was still a pasty white blond, was leading them with the connection he shared with Ron, Hermione and Harry. Sora, still looking like Arnold who was Jamaican, ran next to him and was just barely able to keep up with Riku and Edward, who still had on the guise of Lt. Colonel Roy Mustang. They reached the elevators and rushed in as soon as one opened up. With nobody inside Sora was free to ask Riku what had been on all their minds.

"Is Harry in danger?"

"No, not yet. But I feel as though they're trying to break out something, a sneaky feeling."

"You mean you don't even know what's going on?" Edward yelled, annoyed. "This could just be a false alarm!"

"Riku, we're making a scene." Sora whispered harshly.

"I know that, but I have a feeling that if we don't hurry, something bad is going to happen."

Edward's heart began to pound again, a cold sweat rushed over him. Had they been found out? What was Harry doing?

The golden gates opened, Riku was first to rush out but he suddenly halted in the next instant, sending Sora and Edward to crash into him and fall back. Edward fell back with Sora landing right on top of him. Edward pushed the now heavy Sora off of himself, holding his face as he sat up right.

"What-are-you-doing—you idiot!"

"Guys!"

Edward looked up to who owned the deep voice to see a tall, dark Ministry worker standing there.

"Harry!" Sora whispered harshly. Edward then remembered what Harry looked like, and let out a breath in relief.

"What happened?" asked Riku.

"Nothing yet, but I have to go and get Hermione before something does happen."

"Where's Ron?"

"Taking care of a stormy office."

"Alright, we know where he is so lets get Hermione out of there."

"There's just one problem."

"What?" asked Sora.

"Umbridge is in there with her."

"Umbridge?" Sora wondered.

"Of course she would be," Edward muttered. "If this were a Mudblood court she'd want to be in on this wouldn't she?"

"We can't talk about here in front of the elevators like this." Riku whispered quickly. "Alright, everybody doesn't need to go and get her. Harry, you and I will find out where Hermione is. Sora, take Edward and get back up to the first floor and wait for us. Ron is bound to go there soon and—"

"Woah, wait a second," said Edward. "I'll go with Harry."

"That's very noble, but have you forgotten whose in there?"

"That's my whole reason."

"Are you usually this suicidal, or is today special?"

"You can't be distracted by this, you and Sora have to make sure Ron is okay too. If you're focused on this then how can you keep taps on everyone?"

"He's got a point, Riku," said Sora. Harry gave a nod and looked back to Riku as he took out his invisibility cloak. Riku grit his teeth, stifling his frustration as he spoke.

"Listen, somebody has to go with Harry to make sure he—" a sudden chill fell over everyone at that moment. The boys turned and looked into the hall way, a feeling of dread washed over them, as if all hope was to be lost and there was no way out of it.

"Dementors." Harry whispered. Sora summoned his Key to him, about to make a Patronus appear when Harry stopped him. "Put it away quick before someone sees you."

Riku stepped up.

"We have to decide now who goes and who stays."

Edward quickly turned and grabbed the cloak from Harry, pulling it over the both of them and dragging Harry along.

"Later!"

"Wait— come back…!" Riku whispered.

"They're gone, and we should be too!" Sora pulled on Riku's shoulder to get him to the elevator. They raced in before the Dementors had time to round the corner, little murmurs escaped the gates before they closed.

"Idiots, they're both idiots!"

Edward and Harry raced down the halls as best as they could. The icy chill of the Dementors presence wrapped around the both of them, seeming to suck the hope from Edward the instant he breathed in the chilly air. He grit his teeth in determination reminding him self to fight off the feeling and keep his brother in mind. Dementors were spotted then, causing Edward to catch his own breath in his throat. He couldn't see them, but he knew Harry could, and that they were all around.

The creatures glided past them without any trouble, yet a few looked back towards where the boys were, as if they sensed human life yet couldn't find it. Up ahead, one of the dungeon doors opened and screams echoed out of them.

"No, no, I'm half-blooded, I'm half-blooded, I tell you! My father was a wizard, he _was_, look him up, Arkie Alderton, he's a well-known broomstick designer, look him up, I tell you— get your hands off me, get your hands off—"

"This is your final warning," said Umbridge's soft voice magicly magnified so that it sounded clearly over the man's desperate screams. "If you struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss."

The man's scream subsided but his dry sobs echoed through the corridor. Edward shuttered as he heard them.

"Take him away." said Umbridge.

Two Dementors appeared at the doorway of the courtroom, their rotting, scabbed hands clutching the upper arms of a wizard who appeared to be fainting. To Edward's eyes, all he could see was the man gliding away, backwards and down the corridor, and the darkness they left behind that swallowed him up and out of sight.

"Next— Mary Cattermole."

A small woman stood up; she was trembling from head to foot. Her dark hair was smoothed back into a bun and she wore long, plain robes. Her face was completely bloodless. As she passed the Dementors, both boys watched as she shuddered.

Still hidden under the cloak, they followed her into the courtroom. Harry could see a considerable amount of Dementors present inside the circular stone room. Up in the raised platforms sat Yaxly, Umbridge, and Hermione. A patronus had been cast, it was a silvery cat that shown brightly and prowled up and down, up and down, protecting the prosecutors from the Dementors chill. Harry could tell it was Umbridges', aside for her love of cats, the patronus shown brightly, and this was the element where Umbridge would be happiest; carrying out the laws she helped create and sentencing those she thought were unworthy to an awful life. Edward wondered where it was those people were really being sent, he wished he could have followed that other man who had been dragged out, for he had a strong sense that he'd wind up back down in the lowest floor of the Ministry…

He was kicked out of his thoughts by the sound of Mrs. Cattermole's sobs, and Harry's nudges to start moving. Edward was lead up to the platforms where the protective barrier of the patronus engulfed them as they passed through it. They sat behind Hermione, who was completely oblivious to their presence.

"Could you please tell us from which witch or wizard you took this wand from?" Umbridge asked poor Mrs. Cattermole.

"T-Took?" she sobbed, "I didn't take it from anybody. I b-bought it when I was eleven years old. It— it— it _chose_ me." She began to cry harder than ever. The scene made Edward's gut wrench with pity and frustration for her. The feeling only grew when he heard Umbridge's soft girlish laugh, he twitched forward, as if to attack her on the spot but quickly stopped himself.

When Umbridge stood up, Harry took the chance and leaned forward to whisper to Hermione their presence there. She jumped, but it obviously hadn't been enough to alert Umbridge to anything, she was far to distracted with her prey to care about what was going on just beside her.

"No, I don't think so, Mrs. Cattermole," Umbridge continued. "Wands only chose witches or wizards. You are not a witch. I have your response to the questionnaire that was sent to you here— Mafilda, pass them to me."

Umbridge held out her pudgy hand: She looked so much like a toad that both Edward and Harry were quite surprised not to see webs between the stubby fingers. Hermione's hands shook as she fumbled to find the right papers form a small stack in front of her. She found the right paper and then handed them to Dolorus.

"That's— that's pretty, Dolorus," she said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of Dolorus Umbridge's blouse.

"What?" She snapped. "Oh, yes, and old family heirloom." she nodded and patted the locket on her bosom. "The _S_ stands for Selwyn… I am related to the Selwyns, pure bloods." She turned back to Mrs. Cattermole. "It's a pity the same cannot be the same for you. _'Parents: greengrocers'_"

The jeering laughs of Yaxly, the smug grin of Umbridge, and the sobs of poor Mrs. Cattermole had sent Harry over the edge. He lifted his wand— and Umbridge fell flat on her face, unconscious. Stunned, Harry looked out his wand to see if it had gone off by it's self, when suddenly he felt the invisibility cloak be thrown off of him self and looked up to Edward who still held a shaking fist.

"Damn… that felt good."

"Edward!" Hermione gasped. She turned back and found, "Harry!"

Yaxly gave a yelp and turned to run when Harry rose up and stunned him to the ground. Edward turned back to Hermione.

"Yea, I know that was reckless but what else was I gonna—"

"Look there!" she pointed.

The patronus that Dolorus had cast disappeared when she fell unconscious, the chill of the Dementors instantly set in. The dark creatures began to move in on the chained Mrs. Cattermole, now that they sensed their masters no longer a threat. Harry rose up and cast his patronus, the silvery stag seemed to leap out of his wand and cantered around Mrs. Cattermole to drive the Dementors away. Harry and Edward all rushed down from the raised platform and went to help the witch.

Harry looked back up and watched as Hermione unclipped the locket from around Dolores's fat neck. He turned back to Edward who was busy with Mrs. Cattermole's' chains. There was a flash of electric blue light, and the chains fell from around the woman.

"Alright, lets' go." called Edward.

"Hold on, I'm going to try something." Hermione called back. She pointed her wand to the locket. "_Geminio!_ There, I've duplicated it. She'll never know the difference."

Harry turned to the frightened Mrs. Cattermole.

"You're going to leave here with us. You should go home, grab your children and run away, get out of the country if you can."

"Harry," Hermione called, "How are we going to get out of here with all these Dementors around?"

"Patronuses." He replied. He waited for her to cast her own Patronus. Hermione held out her wand.

"Expe-Expecto Patronum!" a few moments went by with nothing happening.

"That's always been her weak point," Harry explained to Mrs. Cattermole. "Bit of a pity really… come on, Hermione."

Finally she cast her silver otter from her wand, it floated about as if swimming through the air, following her as they all left the room.

The Dementors backed away from the light of the patronuses, they were driven further away and had released their captive Muggle bourns. They looked to Harry and Hermione, a bit dazed from the commotion and the new warmth the patronuses brought with them.

"Listen up," Harry addressed, "It's been decided that you should all go home and go into hiding with your families. Go abroad if you can. Just get well away from the Ministry."

"That's the new official position people," Edward jumped in. "Now run with us, move, move, move!" He turned and began to rush away.

Edward lead the way as Hermione and Harry brought up the rear with the frightened Muggle bourns. They approached the lifts, the twenty or so add-on's with them and stopped before the gates.

"This was a brave plan and all," started Edward, quietly. "But with this many people and your spells, this is going to look suspicious."

"I'm working on a plan as we speak." replied Harry.

"Really?"

"…Sort of. Well, I'm counting on luck anyway."

Before Edward had time to reply the lift gates opened in front of them, causing everyone to jump.

"Reg!" yelped Mrs. Cattermole. She flung herself into Ron's arms and clung to him. "Reg, Rucorn saved us! He says we should leave the country. Oh I think we should, lets go home, get the kids and leave this place… why are you wet?"

"Water." Ron mumbled. He untangled himself from Mrs. Cattermole's arms and looked to who he knew to be his friends. "The Ministry knows there are intruders here, something about a hole in Umbridges door, I've figure we've got about five minuets before—"

Hermione's patronus vanished with a _pop _as both she and Edward turned to face Harry.

"We're going to be trapped here…" muttered Edward.

"What about Sora and Riku?" asked Hermione.

"They'll be fine, stay calm." he turned to look at those around him. "Who here has a wand?"

About half of them raised their hands.

"Okay, all those who don't have wands attach yourself to someone who does. Lets hurry out before they can catch us, come on."

They managed to squeeze themselves into two separate lifts and rode them all the way to the eighth floor, Atrium. They all exited the lifts together and headed towards the fireplaces; Edward could feel his heart beat hard against his chest. He looked around for anyone who might have figured out that they were the intruders and managed to find a very confused pair of eyes in the crowd. He motioned for the two of them, Sora and Riku, to follow them, then turned back and kept walking. They strode up to the group as naturally as they could act, unaware of what it was they were to do next.

Harry, who was in front, he watched as from fireplace to fireplace, people were sealing them off. He hurried forward, the group going with him as he hurried.

"STOP!" he bellowed out in Rucorn's deep voice. The wizards sealing the fireplaces froze and watched as Harry quickly strode over to them. He approached one especially meek looking wizard and looked down at him. "This lot needs to leave before you seal off the exits."

"But my orders were to seal off all the exits and not to let anyone—"

"_Are you contradicting me?_" he blustered, "Would you like me to re examine your family tree, like I had Dirk Cresswell's?"

"Sorry!" gasped the worker, backing away. "I didn't mean nothing, Albert, but I thought… I thought they were in for questioning and…"

"Their blood is pure. Purer than any of yours I dare say. Off you go." The last part he had boomed to the Muggle bourns who obediently left into the fire place in a rush. Everything went smoothly for a few minuets, no one dared disobey Rucorn or raise and argument as the group left into the fireplace. All the ministry workers were backed away, each looking on with fear and resentment. Then:

"Mary!"

Mrs. Cattermole looked over her shoulder. The real Reg Cattermole, no longer vomiting but pale and wan, had come running out of the lift.

"R-Reg?"

She looked form her husband to Ron, who swore loudly. The ministry worker Harry had yelled at caught sight of the two Regs and turned to his coworkers.

"Seal the exit! SEAL IT!"

"No you don't!" Edward jumped out of the crowd and planted his foot straight in to the Ministry worker's face. The worker crumpled to the ground, unconscious with a red shoe mark over his nose and eyes. He turned, waving the rest of the Muggle bourns onto the lift. "Lets go, move it!" he barked. The real Reg and Mrs. Cattermole fled the Ministry, holding hands as they continued to pass through the fireplace. Ministry workers began to surround everyone, Sora and Riku brought out their Keyblades and deflected the spells being cast at themselves and their friends. There were only a few Muggle bourns left to deal with, and when they crossed over both Ron and Hermione were the next ones in, leaving their friends behind.

Yaxley appeared in the next moment; he saw two Ministry Workers with Keyblades.

"Intruders!" he screamed out.

"Seize them!" cried out Umbridge's voice.

Sora and Riku turned to see Umbridge in an upset, the bow she wore in her long pointed hat was out of place, her hair stuck out from all odd angle with bobby pins hanging on the curly strands that stood out. Harry turned back to Riku and Sora, concerned. He began reaching for his wand, but Riku griped Harry's wrist.

"Run for it!" he urged, then somehow shoved Harry's large body into the floo network. Riku turned back to Edward and thumbed behind him. Edward nodded and ran into the fire without a second thought, leaving his friends behind. The men and women, witches and wizards, all gasped and hurried away, anticipating a fight to break out. Ministry workers, that seemed to Riku and Sora like security, ran forth to oppose them. They drew their wands, the badges on their chest had a deadly gleam to them as they raced over. They raised their wands to Riku and Sora, but a fit of flames suddenly erupted and blocked both for them from each other. Riku and Sora didn't have to turn to know that Lt. Colonel Roy Mustang had just given them a chance to escape. Riku and Sora turn and bolted into the floo network.

Infuriated, Umbridge turned and snarled at Roy who stood on the far side of the Atrium. Wands pointed at him, he looked from one wizard to another, his hand up and ready to snap. Umbridge's laugh screeched out and cackled madly. It reminded Mustang of the witches that he would hear about in stories and fairy tales.

"Well, well, Colonel Roy Mustang." She smiled, triumphantly. "I may have lost Potter, but now I have the pleasure of sending you to_ Azkaban_."

Meanwhile, when Sora and Riku appeared on the other side, they were met with the sight of their friends fending off the Ministry workers. Harry was cornered, his back up against a stall door. Edward bravely defended Ron and Hermione with a stone barrier made from the bathroom floor and walls. The spells the witches and wizards cast were chipping away at the stone, and all Edward could do was continue to repair the damage, the wall grew thinner and thinner. Ron had been wounded and was bleeding heavily, he was held by Hermione who could do very little but wave her wand and stun anyone who tried to get around the barrier. Sora went to support Edward while Riku ran to Harry's aid and knocked out several wizards with his Keyblade. Riku hopped into action, right beside Harry.

"You just had to get yourself involved." Riku chided fiercely.

"You know me," Harry deflected a spell, "Always feeling charitable."

Edward glared at the Ministry workers hatefully as the thin stone wall finally broke down, crumbling as it fell to his feet. Sora rushed from behind the Ministry workers, his Keyblade in hand. He hooked several of them with the key end and dragged them back behind him, letting them go to fall into the wooden stalls. Edward jumped into action and clapped his hands. He set them on the wooden stalls, sealing everyone up inside their own little wooden boxes. Seeing this, Riku whistled to Edward and repeated Sora's maneuver. Edward opened the stalls long enough for the wizards to fall in, and then be trapped.

"They're gonna blast out of there at any minuet." Harry called over.

"Hurry! We have to apperate!" yelled Hermione.

"Got it!" Sora nodded to her then ran and caught Harry and Riku, planting his hands on their shoulders. In the next second, they all disappeared with a pop before both boys could say a word against it.

Edward, and a barely conscious Ron, were grabbed by Hermione. Edward felt the familiar sensation of air being stolen from his lungs and being pulled through space by his navel once more, but not before he felt a hand had grab his left shoulder. Now he and the hand were going together with Hermione and Ron.

Edward re-appeared on the landing, watching at the boys in front of him were hurrying to get in through the door, still held on by Sora. He could hear his younger brother's voice, giving a cry in surprise and calling their names. Before he could even register what the feeling on his shoulder was, a fist had swiftly made contact with his face! What happened next happened in less than three seconds. He went blank for that moment, then heard Hermione shriek out a spell. Yaxley fell to the ground in that moment, looking up at Edward in his stunned state. Edward turned back to run into the house, but was grabbed by the shoulder and disappeared! Edward's head spun, but the only thing he saw before being apperated away was a man lying motionless on the front step. His eye's widened, and he yelled out for his brother who he knew to still be at home. His warning was too late, he had been pulled away once again by the spell, yanked out of Grimmauld place only to land wherever Hermione thought fit. Somewhere in between the blurs that rushed past him he could feel himself lose consciousness, and then everything went black.

888

Harry opened his eyes and was dazzled by gold and green blurs that danced just before his eyes. He blinked once or twice and his vision cleared up enough to see a forest canopy high above his head. He struggled to draw breath into his lungs and rolled onto his side. Already he could hear others around him groaning out as they struggled for consciousness. Harry pushed himself off the ground and looked about him, around the forest. He could see Hermione, Ron, and Edward lying not but a few feet away.

Harry looked around their strange new setting, they were all alone in a forest.

"What the…" came Sora. Harry looked down at his side where he knew Sora to be laying. "Are we in de Forbidden Forest…?" his voice was groggy. He had wondered the same thing too, but as he looked around it was obvious that it was an entirely different forest all together. The trees were young, light penetrated through just fine, and everything was much more open.

"No… no I think not…" he mumbled back.

Hermione stirred, the only one out of the two boys she laid beside to have woken up. She looked down to Ron, and the color in her face began to drain in that moment.

"Harry!" she yelled, startling him. "Harry— come quick!"

Harry and Sora hurried over to Hermione and knelt down beside her. Ron was covered in blood, it was pooling out onto the forest floor.

"What's happened to him?" asked Harry.

"Splinched." said Hermione. Sora let out a shudder as he gazed down at his friend. Hermione's fingers were already busy with the sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkest. "Harry, quickly, in my bag there's a small bottle labeled 'Essence of Dittany'—"

"Bag— right—" Harry sped off to where Hermione's small purse lay in the leaves. Sora looked over to Hermione, worried.

"What can I do?" he asked.

"Nothing, for now. He's bled so much already… Harry, _hurry_!" she urged.

"Got it!" said Harry. He hastened back over with a small brown bottle in his hand. Hermione took it from him, but soon handed it to Sora.

"Unstopper it for me, Sora, my hands are shaking." she asked. Sora was quick and popped the cork top off the bottle and handed it over to Hermione.

Hermione poured three drops into Ron's wound, and instantly it began to heal up as green smoke rose up from it. "There," she said, "That's all I feel safe with doing." she handed the bottle back to Harry and let out a shuddered breath.

"I always thought Splinching to be… kinda funny…" Sora looked down at Ron sadly. "But this…" he winced, looking to where a large chunk of flesh had once been missing in Ron's arm. Hermione put a hand on Sora's shoulder for comfort, and he returned a look back.

"It's alright Sora, Ron's lost a lot of blood but he'll be fine."

"What's going on over here?" The three all looked up to Riku who was standing above them and holding his head. "How'd we get… where'd all that blood come from?" he looked to his friends faces.

Harry's gaze turned back to Hermione. "How did we get here?" he asked. "What happened to Grimmauld Place?"

"Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to go back there."

"What d'you—"

"As we dissaperated, Yaxley caught hold of us. As soon as we landed on the front step he hit Edward! I didn't know what to do but cast Yaxly off of us, grab at Sora for contact, and apperate away…" tears began to from in Hermione's eyes. "Harry… I'm so sorry… I managed to shake him off but I brought us here instead…"

"But then he's back at Grimmauld Place with…" he went very quiet, and his gaze tilted down as he realized. "Alphonse…" he and the others turned back to look at Edward who was lying very still. They could see his chest moving up and down rhythmically, he was only unconscious.

"Some one has to tell him…" she said, in hardly a whisper.

"I will." Harry stood up and walked over to Edward, kneeling down once more beside him. He hesitated then shook him but the shoulder. Edward moaned and turned on his side to Harry, his left temple was puffed out and a deep purple. Edward opened his eyes, looking up dully as he tried recognize his surroundings.

"Where is…" he blinked a couple of times and tried to sit up, but Harry pushed him back down.

"Hold off on that for a moment Edward." He warned. "Your headache might get worse."

"Screw… that…" Edward muttered fiercely. "Where are we, where's Al? Someone grabbed him before we left, right?" He sat up, pushing Harry and as he looked around. "Al? Al!"

"He— he's not with us."

"WHAT?" Edward roared out. He stood up and looked around the forest, confused and alarmed. He looked back to Harry. "We have to go back, we have to get him."

"We can't go back. The Ministry knows we were there now. It's probably crawling with Death Eaters by now."

"Then Alphonse… We left him…" the shock set in on him. He held his head and he fell to his knees.

The others watched in silence, unsure of what to do, yet not giving any indication to help.

"He's… We've… I've… I've got to go back."

"You can't."

"I can't leave him!"

"We… have to." He said weakly.

"NO!" Edward grabbed Harry by the shoulders, causing Sora and Riku to lunge forward defensively. "No… no, we're going back. You're taking me back!"

"No, I'm not." Harry said, firmly. He pushed Edward off of him and stared him down. Edward turned back and found Sora, then ran to him.

"You and me Sora," he said, "We got to go back."

"No… we can't."

"We can't leave him behind! What if they catch him?"

"What if dey catch you?"

"What if they're not there yet…!" His desperate pleas did not change Sora's disposition, and he could only turn his gaze away from his sad eyes. Edward backed away from Sora and turned to the others, looking at everyone he could. A breath got caught in his throat and the fear he felt intensified from the stone silence.

"You… any of you… can apperate. I can't…" he bravely fought back the tears of frustration. "Why won't any of you help me— help _him_?"

"You know why…" Riku said. "If the Ministry can catch onto us again… if they find out your not dead, then everything we've done so far will be for nothing."

Edward looked around at the faces of his friends. The Polyjuice potion had begun to wear off, and even now he could see Harry shrinking back to his own height, Sora growing lighter, and Hermione's red hair begin to turn brown once more. Their disguises were fading, time had run out.

"Alphonse… kinda blends in with the place." Sora spoke up, his voice and accent back to what it had been before. "You know… an old suit of armor in a house full of that kind of stuff… who's to say he can't figure that out also?"

"I'm sure he'll know what to do." said Riku.

"For how long… how long are we going to leave him there?" Edward asked. "If we can't go back, and no one in the Order knew we were there… then how are we getting him back?"

"I… don't know." Harry admitted. "But… but we just have to trust that he'll know what to do. For now…" Harry turned to everyone else. "We have to charm the area and set up camp here. Make sure we are neither seen nor heard."

"I'll go and charm the area." Sora offered. Both he and Hermione walked away together.

"Next it to pitch the tent."

"I got it." Riku said. He walked away to Hermione's purse to dig around for the tent. Harry looked over to Edward, who was only staring dully at the ground, hiding his face as best as he can. Harry silently drew in a breath and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Edward… I know this seems bad but…"

"Shove it." Edward muttered. He shrugged Harry's hand off his shoulder and turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"If you're not going to help me then I'm—"

"You're what?" Harry argued back loudly. Edward turned around, unafraid to lash out at him.

"I'm going back there my self!"

"Really? You know where you are then, do you?"

"There's got to be a town or something near by where someone knows." he turned but was grabbed and pulled back sharply.

"Stop it!"

"Don't order me around!" He yanked his wrist free.

"You have to stay with us. You'll be safe here."

"I don't' care if I'm safe. I promised Al I'd come back."

"And what happens if you get caught along with him, huh? Then your both held at the mercy of both the Ministry and Voldemort. Then what?"

"Shut up."

Harry advanced on Edward, his tone growing venomous. "Stupid older brother let his pride get in the way rather than trusting his little brother—"

"I said shut up!"

"—and winds up in even worse trouble and is lost to his little brother forever. Is that what you want?"

"You don't understand! He's alone!" his head tilted down, a feeling of dread washed over him. "I… I let him down…"

"You didn't know this would happen—"

"You're the one who told me to leave him behind!" he wildly accused. "Look what happened! He's back there, probably watching Death Eaters tear the place up and wondering where I am! He's probably thinking that his brother ditched him once again to go off with Potter! That I left him on purpose!" there was a silence. "You don't understand, you can't…! I've lost him before, I've been near to losing him so many more times because of my own damn, stupid mistakes! I never wanted to make another one— _never_! And now… this…"

Harry tried desperately to come up with anything to say, but the look in Edward's eyes as he glared in him made his mind go blank.

"You're not losing him again. I promise that he'll be alright."

"How? Wave your little stick and think everything will go alright?" he snapped, bitterly.

"No— I mean—"

"Then what, Harry?"

"He's—"

"What?"

"He wouldn't want—"

"What would you know? You don't even have a brother—"

"_I thought I did_!" he yelled out.

Edward looked back, surprised by Harry's reaction. They were silent as Edward desperately grabbed in his mind for something to say back but went silent as Harry continued.

"If you run off and abandon all of us… if you lose faith in your brother and run away… if you abandon the promise you made to Dumbledore, I know that you will be caught." He advanced on Edward, who instinctively took a step back. "When you're caught you know what _He'll _do? He'll know where we all are, where Ron's family is and what they've been doing, and he'll find your brother, and your family back on your world… and he'll kill them all."

Edward gaze remained on him for a few moments more as his words set in. Harry was showing anger but Edward could see the fear in those green eyes, and knew his words to be the reality of the case. He looked away from Harry, the anxiety of knowing there was nothing he could do was almost overwhelming. He turned away, the frustration he felt formed tears as his eyes that he couldn't' bare to show. In his silence he felt his very pride crushed inside of him. His back to Harry, he slowly crouched down on the ground and covered his face with his hands, not daring to utter a single sound.

Harry watched as Edward silently collected himself and abandoned his thoughts to go after his brother. He too was holding everything back, all the fear, the anxiety, the sadness, he could only imagine at how Edward felt.

"I know," Harry continued. "What I'm asking you to do is hard… well, its harder than hard. I can understand…"

"Go away," his voice was quiet, yet Harry could feel the steady rage being held back, threatening to burst at any moment. "Just go away."

Harry hesitated a moment before he spoke.

"You promise not to leave the area?" he felt the silence, seconds ticked on like minuets before he saw Edward turn slightly and give a nod. Harry said nothing as he turned and left him. He did not wish to see Edward like this, and knew he felt the same. Harry's fist tightened and he cured the ministry in his mind, and cursed himself for not thinking ahead in case something like this were to happen. He wouldn't allow himself to break though, not this time. His friends needed their leader, and he needed them just as much if not more to finish what they had all started.

Over by Sora and Hermione, they were busy at work casting charms to protect the camp sight, unaware of the heavy discussion between Harry and Edward.

"_Salvio Hexia…_" Sora spoke as he waved his Keyblade in the air. Hermione looked over to him with a weary smile, for she had become exhausted from the early morning infiltration.

"That's very good, Sora," she praised, "I didn't know you'd remember such an advanced spell."

"I didn't spend a whole year copying off of you not to remember a few things." he joked. Hermione gave a small laugh and turned back to the forest as she began casting her spells as well. Harry walked up to his friends, he felt in dire need of a lighter mood.

"_Protego Totalum!_" Harry cast his charm, as if to announce himself as he walked up to Hermione. Having heard the conversation, he added to it.

"Give Sora a little credit. He did help out Ron last year with Apperation, remember? He's the best of us all."

"_Muffliato_…! Come on Harry, that just means I know how to run away really well." Sora chuckled. "I don't know as much as Hermione, I think we'd all be dead by now if it wasn't for her."

They noticed that she stood up a bit straighter and didn't look quite as tiered after that comment.

"How did teaching Ron go last year?" Hermione asked, "He's usually not that confident when it comes to things like that."

"Aww, I wasn't so bad." Sora shrugged. "Well, that's all I know. I think I'll check up on Ron to see if he's awake yet." He let the Keyblade disappear out of his hand and walked away. Harry followed after him, listening as Hermione spoke the last spell.

"_Repello Muggleteum…_"

Both he and Hermione quickly looked to where Edward was, wary about how the charm would affect him. After a few moments they were relived to find that he remained safe within the barrier instead of being flung out in an instant.

"We'll have to warn him about no leaving the camp ground without one of us." He mentioned to her. She gave a nod and followed Harry to the tent.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He just needs a moment. He'll be fine."

"Poor Alphonse… I really do wish there was something we could do. What if Sora and Riku were to—" she was silenced by Harry's look of deep sadness.

"If there were something we could do I'd make sure to do it. I'd go in myself and do it, but even if I were to use the invisibility cloak it wouldn't make a difference, anybody would be caught."

"I just feel so awful… poor Alphonse."

In under an hour, the area had been protected, the tent set up, and everyone was resting in their own cots. The tent was like one large room, with all the cots stacked up against the opposite side of the entrance, a small kitchen station on the right and a small card table in the middle. Everyone was exhausted, so the first thing they did was rest and nap in their cots.

The rest of the night went along rather peacefully. Everyone woke up during the evening and he begun to scrounge up the bare necessities of what was needed. Even Ron woke up from his sleep, with a growling stomach. Having woken up once before and looked about while everyone else was asleep, he knew already of his surroundings. He was weak from the lack of blood, which made his appetite all the more insatiable. Everyone was starving for something to eat, but all that could be found were spongy little mushrooms that tasted like rubber. No one said anything as they ate, yet they could hear Ron grunt every so often, obviously holding back a complaint that was just itching to come out. His arm was in a sling, so eating became awkward for him.

Edward looked at his bare plate pensively, thinking of Grimauld Place. How noisy was it back there, he wondered. Did the floorboard creak even when no one but Kretcher was around? Were the Ministry and the Death Eaters flooding the house and searching for information? His grip on the fork slacked without his notice, and he listened numbly to the silverware clatter onto the plate. He could feel the deep sadness well up inside of him. What was the point of being his older brother if he did not protect him?

Edward's thoughts had caught him off guard, he wondered what good he was he doing in pitying himself?

'Alphonse is not dead… and here I am brooding like I just came back from a funeral…' a bitter sweet smile graced his lips. 'All I can do is trust Alphonse. I know he isn't helpless… he can outsmart those bastards. He'll find a way.' encouraging thoughts just seem to develop more doubt, but he refused to entertain them.

"Feeling better, Edward?" asked Hermione, gently. He turned to her and gave a quiet nod in return.

"A bit."

"Food will do that."

"Yea." He sat up a bit straighter and cleared his throat so he'd be louder. "Yea and besides, if that slit nosed freak even shows his face I'm sure Alphonse will know how to out smart him."

"Yea," smiled Sora, "Volde—"

"Sora!" barked Ron. Everyone jumped and looked over to him.

"Wh-what?"

"Don't say his name."

"Are you serious?" Edward sneered.  
"Yes, I am." He looked around at everyone. "I don't' know, it just seems like bad luck to say it out loud. So lets just not say it, alright?"

"Dumbledore said it with no problem." Harry reminded.

"Yea, no offence Harry, but look where he is now."

Edward rose to his feet, as if ready to knock Ron over the head with his plate, but held himself back. Ron frowned up at him.

"I'm just _saying_, that's all."

"Please sit down Edward, he's just hungry and recovering from blood loss." Pleaded Hermione.

"Alright, fine." Riku nodded. "We won't say the name of you-know-who."

"This is stupid." Edward muttered.

"Forget it," Harry whispered back.

Hermione stood up and placed her dish on the kitchen table, then turned and walked over to the tent entrance. "We're taking shifts guarding tonight, right?"

"Yea," nodded Sora he stood up and walked over to her. "I'll take the first one Hermione, since you cooked dinner. You can go rest before your shift then."

Hermione smiled at him and nodded in return.

"Thank you Sora."

"No problem. G'night." He waved to everyone else and walked out of the tent.

"Night." They all replied.

Harry turned back to the other boys then and rubbed the back of his neck, revealing the golden chain of the horcrux. Edward saw it but gave no indication that he noticed it. Harry stood up and stretched before looking back down at everyone.

"It's dark, there's nothing to do, I'm going to bed." He announced.

"So are we." Riku agreed. Everyone migrated over to their cots, changed, and went to bed. Edward rested in his lower bunk, to tiered to argue with Ron that he wanted the top one anyhow. He closed his eyes and rested.

After a few hours, when it was well into midnight, Edward was roused from his sleep by the gentle hand of Hermione. Edward rolled over in his bed and looked up at a silhouette with bushy hair. Blinking for a moment, he saw that Hermione's face was right above his.

"It's your shift," she said, her voice was tiered and groggy. Edward didn't speak but instead gave another yawn and sat up. His foot swung out over the bed and accidentally hit into Hermione's shins. She gave a cry in surprise and fell backwards, but he caught her just in time. He just barely managed to grab her wrist when he slammed his head on the bunk above him. Edward fell back, throwing Hermione on top of him as he landed in the bed. Hermione winced at the landing, a sore feeling wracked her leg and she pressed her face against Edward's chest. It took a moment for either of them to realize where they were.

For a few moments neither of them moved an inch, until Edward could feel Hermione lift her head off of his chest. He looked up and met her eyes, neither one uttering a word.

A bright light flashed in the room suddenly, blinding Edward. He raised his hand to shield the light and was just barely able to make out the silhouette of Harry, Sora, and Riku. Above Edward was Ron, glaring down at him from the cot he lay on.

Harry was out of his top bunk and was looking around the room, apparently he too wasn't adjusted to the bright light as he squinted.

"What's going on, is everything…" his gaze fell upon Edward and Hermione, "… alright?"

"Oh!" Hermione pushed herself off of Edward and straightened her t-shirt. "Every things fine. Edward accidentally kicked me and I—"

"He _what_?" bellowed Ron.

"It was an accident!" Edward defended. "It was dark, I couldn't see her!"  
Sora snickered. "Right, and Hermione just 'accidentally' fell on you?" he asked.

"No, I caught her then… grrr— _QUIT SNICKERING YOU POINTY-HEADED IDIOT!_"

"Erm… Hermione?" Riku looked over to her with a good natured grin. "I think Edward is awake now, you can go get some sleep."

"Right, sleep." she nodded and wet over to her cot on the lone bunk. "Erm… _goodnighteverybody_." And she quickly turned over and threw the covers over her head.

All the boys looked from the last sight of Hermione, then slowly turned their attention back to Edward.

"So…" Riku whispered, "You're a little pervert." he smirked.

"I'm not a pervert— _AND WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' __LITTLE_!" his face had become the color of a radish. He could still feel the glare of Ron on him, he wished it would go away. He turned to look up at Ron. "It was an _accident_." he insisted. Ron huffed in disbelief and rolled back out of view.

Edward stood up and walked out of the dark corner, leaving Riku, Sora, and Harry to crawl back in bed and fall asleep. He was at the tent door when he heard Sora hurry over towards him. He leaned in and whispered something in his ear.

"Don't get any ideas now Ed, Hermione is Ron's girl." he mocked playfully. He growled at Sora, who chuckled and walked away. Edward let out a breath and walked out. He cast his gaze upon the night sky and wondered how he got himself into those sorts of messes. His mind wandered off to Resignbool where he knew Winery to be. She was safe in her home, that much he knew. How was the young automail mechanic fairing, he wondered? Sitting alone under the dark night sky, he wondered if she too was looking up at their own sky, and if so, who was she thinking of?

The next morning was quiet, though the friends would awake, they didn't speak. Edward noticed how quiet it had become. The situation had become more serious, sure, but he knew it was the hunger that nipped inside their bellies that set the mood. Truthfully, Edward felt on edge because of the hunger pains he was experiencing. He could feel them, even as he trailed behind Harry as they walked through the forest. They were both silent, neither one having much to say to the other.

The boys reached a large and tall oak tree and stopped at it.

"Here's good." said Harry. He reached into his pocket and took out an eyeball from it. Edward recognized the blue eye to be Alester Moody's. Before the boys had left, Harry had privately explained to him that he had stolen the eye from Umbridges' door. He watched Harry kneel down and dig a small hole, before placing the eye inside of it and covering it back up. He stood back up and looked down at the base of the tree.

"Do you want to say a few words?" Harry asked Edward.

In truth, Edward had never really liked Alester Moody. His suspicions of the man had never gone away, but he knew the man was good. Still he cleared his throat and said the only things he could.

"Madeye was a good man. He was smart, knew what he was doing, and protected us all."

"That's it?"

"'S all I could think of…" he muttered.

"That's good enough." he nodded back to him. They turned back and stared down at the tree together. "This is the least I can do for him…" he went silent. They stared at the grave, giving a moment of silence for him.

After a while, Edward turned to his friend.

"Hey, Harry… I'm sorry, you know… about yesterday."

"About what?" he asked.

"About what I said… and what I was thinking."

"You only did what anybody would have done. I'm sorry I couldn't… that I didn't…" he went silent and rubbed the back of his neck again. Once more the chain was revealed, showing that Harry hadn't taken off the horcrux since yesterday. Edward looked down, away from the chain.

"Don't worry about it." He mumbled. "So… are we… okay?"

"Yea, we're okay…" he nodded.

The boys headed back to the tent together, just as silent as before. Once behind the protective spells (Edward had to be held onto by Harry because he had a sudden urge to do something else completely, brought on by the Muggle Repel charm), they could hear a conversation going on in the tent. Hermione's voice could be heard, describing the horrible court rulings that went on inside of the Ministry of Magic.

"It was a completely unfair trial!" said Hermione. Edward and Harry entered the ten to see her by the small stove, chopping up more mushrooms for what would be their breakfast. "To think that they can call that— _that_ inhumane way of treating innocent people a _fair _trial— it's a joke!"

"Easy, Hermione." said Edward. "You're chopping wood there."

"Oh, so I am…" she quieted down and became calm once more. Hermione turned back to them. "Here have you been?"

"Never mind." said Harry. "'S not important."

"So what do they do for the trial?" Sora asked, interested. Hermione look to him, holding the knife in one hand while the other rested firmly on her hip.

"They accuse the Muggle-bourn, then Umbridge declares them a 'magic stealer' and they're sent away with the Dementors to Azkaban."

"That's not even a trial." Riku sniffed.

That's like a witch hunt, " smiled Edward, "pardon the expression."

Harry and the others gave a small laugh at the comparison.

"Tell me about it." Harry smiled.

Breakfast was served at the table, where Edward, Harry, Hermione and Sora sat. Ron and Riku were off to the side of them, eating their meals on the cushioned floor. Once more a silence rung out between everyone. Edward looked to Harry's chest where the locket lay hidden underneath his shirt. Harry noticed his gaze and snapped his finger's in front of Edward's face. Edward jerked back in surprise and look to Harry.

"You see something?"

"No," he shifted, "just thinking. So how do we figure out how to destroy the Horcrux?" There came a snort to Edwards left. He turned to see Ron sitting with Riku in the corner. Ron's color was returning to his face and he seemed to have more energy than yesterday, but his arm was still in a sling.

"We don't even know where the next one is, let alone how to destroy it." said Ron.

"We'll figure it out one at a time." Harry reasoned.

"Hmm… give it here." said Edward. He held out his hand for the Horcrux, but Harry seemed reluctant to give it to him. Harry leaned back, eyeing Edward, who looked back at him flatly. "Come on, I'm not gonna steal it." he snapped his fingers impatiently for it.

"It's not that, I just don't know what'll happen if you—"

"Quit worrying and hand it over."

Harry took the egg-sized locket off from around his neck and gently placed it in Edward's hands. For a moment, Harry expected there to be a light of some sort and Edward to be suddenly possessed by it, but nothing happened. Harry did notice that he suddenly felt lighter than when he wore it though.

Edward weighed the small locket in his hand, then examined it. Harry asked him what he intend to do with it now that he had it.

"Destroy it." He answered in an obvious tone.

"How?"

"I don't know, but everything in the world comes down to a science. So maybe the metal in this has been strengthened, or maybe there's some inner mechanism that doesn't allow it to open. Big deal, alchemy ought to crack it." Again, there was a loud snort from Ron. Edward ignored him and clapped his hands together. A charge could be felt emitting off of him, a blue glow came from his hands. He placed his gloved fingers onto the locket. An instant reaction occurred upon his gentle touch, the light around it turned a deep, dangerous purple. A back lash occurred that was so strong it sent Edward flying backwards! He landed on top of Ron, who yelped out.

"You bloody moron!" Ron yelled. Edward got back on his feet and looked at the locket, shocked. It sat on the table gleaming from the light, looking like an inanimate object that held no dark secrets whatsoever.

"That's… impossible, it was just a simple transmutation!" he exclaimed. Harry looked to him, picking the locket back up.

"Nothing's impossible…" he spoke softly, then mournfully looked at it.

((Okay so things are going way smoother now in terms of story process. Unfortunately all our fans seem to be ghosts who can't manifest enough to type on the keyboard and leave a comment. It's cool guys, we get it, just keep reading and maybe one day some one living will enjoy this story and have something to say. Keep it here! D ))


	9. Restless Hearts

Restless Hearts

By

Eden ((Warning, this chapter is angsty and will involve a few swear words, nothing too earth shattering though.))

The days the friends would share in the tent together were long and often quiet. There were times when everyone would get together and play a game of cards or meet about what their next step was in their journey, but normally there was a silence that hung in the air, foreboding and heavy like the atmosphere of a library. Never in Edward's life had an adventure ever come to such a stand still. His objectives were clear, yet the ways to reach them were shrouded in mystery. The Heartless blood he would fiddle and experiment with revealed next to nothing in what made them so much stronger against the Keyblade, his younger brother was still without any help that Edward could provide, and all communications to anyone had been forbidden— for good reason. The only way they could reach the outside world was through sneaking news papers in towns they visited, which was more or less useless due to the fact that they were Muggle newspapers, or the radio that Hermione kept in her bottomless purse. Other than that though, they were completely isolated. Seeing each other everyday did very little in helping the over all moral of the group. Wherever anyone went, there was sure to be another person occupying the same space. Privacy, with six other people sharing one tent, was a thing of the past.

This fact was the motive that lead the young Alchemist out of the tent to sit underneath the tree in the chilly afternoon. His back was rested against the tree trunk, his legs were pulled into his chest and he faced the forest. He shivered slightly as he felt the cold, beating locket ice his chest. He couldn't ignore the Horcrux's steady beat, it was like a pulsing heart that beat against his own. The idea of carrying a piece of Voldemort on his body sickened him, he wanted nothing more than to rip off the egg-sized trinket and to dissolve it slowly in acid. These hateful and violent thoughts increased whenever he wore the locket; his temper was shorter and his tendency to lash out at others would become frequent. He preferred solitude, a place to think and brood over all that was wrong. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his thoughts, hoping that he could master his frustration.

His mind wandered from one stressful thought to another, each one dealing with the situation on this planet and the worry for his own home and people. He followed the mental path all the way until he remembered back to only a few days ago, when he and Harry had run into the path of the path of the Dementors. The chill had set in again, and though he couldn't see him, he could feel their icy breath against his neck. In that one instant, in under a second, he had been rendered completely powerless. He was not a wizard, he knew nothing to stop the creatures and could not even see where or what they were. The icy presence of the Dementor had reached into his lungs and nearly choked him. Edward could have sworn that he had heard Harry yell, but he couldn't find the courage in him to turn. His mind flashed with images he had only had nightmares about and watched as the world around him went black. The Heartless were ducking in and out from behind buildings, watching with their beady yellow eyes in anticipation, ready to strike. If Harry hadn't finally grabbed his arm and disapperated, he was convinced that he would have been subject to the soul sucking kiss that would have rendered him a hollow shell of nothing. The feeling of uselessness washed over him, how he couldn't hardly do anything for anyone, the game had changed, he felt it, and now it was the others helping to look after him. He silently cursed his own Muggle state, the weakening effect of the Horcrux dampened his resolve, it made him wonder when eh had grown so weak at the hands of magic. He felt himself shudder once more moved to rub his left arm and the right side of his neck to stay warm.

"Edward?" there came the voice of Sora.

"_What_?" he snapped, unintentionally. "I mean," he took in a steady breath and let it out. "Yes?" He turned to see Sora recovering from a flinch. The reaction, he thought, was due to the fact that he had punched Sora the day before. It was for the fact that Sora had been humming a tune to himself and had argued that he didn't feel like '_cutting it out_'.

"Nothing much," he masked his hesitation. "I was just wondering if you would like to come in and play a round or two of cards with Harry, Ron, and I?"

"I don't think being competitive is a great idea right now…" his words quieted when he turned back to the forest. Sora took a few steps closer, going next to Edward and looking down at him.

"Aw come on Ed, you don't want to stay out here all day do you? It's chilly, and windy… it's warmer in the tent…"

"Okay, you've made your point, but I'm fine. Really."

"Oh… well then alright. Hermione should be back with Riku, and they should be back with dinner soon so…" Sora continued, trying to fill up the awkward silence between them with his cheery words. It was Sora's nervous habit he had when there was a conflict between friends. This fact made Edward feel guilty, but his frustration with Sora's presence out weighed any ideas to apologies.

"Okay, thanks Sora. You can go now." He interrupted.

"Right… erm… so I'll see you?"

"We all share one tent, so I'm betting you will." he scoffed. He heard his friend's foot steps and then the gentle swish of the tent flap as he entered back into it. Only then did Edward sit forward and rub his face in anxiety. "Great…" he muttered. The fluxation in everyone's moods was not something that the group needed. He let out a breath and continued to shiver silently in the cold.

Inside the tent, Harry and Ron had already started dealing the cards. Harry turned to see Edward not among them.

"Is he still out there?" he asked. Sora gave a slow nod and sat down.

"Yea… I think he's still mad at me from yesterday."

"I think it's the Horcrux." he assured him. "Remember, it does different things to different people."

Ron interjected before Sora could speak.

"Well I think it's because he's a prat!"

"_Ron._" Sora whined. "Harry's right. It's just the…"

"He's been like this before that bloody thing! He's always going around, poo-pooing everything he sees and thinking he so much better with his _science_."

"Alright, whatever," sighed Harry. "I'll shuffle the cards and again, re-deal them between us and then we can start. Right?"

"Sounds good to me." Sora nodded.

"Fine." Ron sighed. His arm had healed over enough so that it was out of its sling. There was still a bit of a scar left, but he had been assured that that too would go away if he just kept drinking potions that Riku and Sora gave him. The potion may have healed him, but it did nothing for his mood.

Not but a half an hour went by before they heard the pop of an apperition outside the tent. Ron and Harry instinctively reached for their wands but didn't look away from their cards. Sora was the first to state the obvious, with somewhat of relief to his voice.

"Riku and Hermione are back."

"Great, what's the _gruel_ this time?"

"It'll be fine." Harry assured Ron.

Hermione and Riku walked in with a small bag of vegetables in Hermione's arms shortly after them was Edward, who, without a word, went to go lay on his cot. Riku looked tiered as well; there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Thank you, Riku," said Hermione, "I really appriciate you coming along."

"Your welcome…" he muttered, groggy. He went over to his cot to lay down and nap.

Hermione turned to everyone else and gave them as best a grin as she could give as she announced their dinner.

"Well, in this town they lock up all the meat behind the glass cases so… there wasn't really a chance for Riku and I to steal much but… this should be good. A vegetarian meal tonight."

"Oh great." Ron muttered. Hermione frowned at him, huffed, and turned to go to the kitchen and start preparing food. Sora nudged Ron, giving him a stern look. Ron rolled his eyes and let out a breath of frustration. He shook his head at Sora, who nudged him again and gestured to Hermione. He stood up and began to walk over to Hermione, but Edward had walked over while Ron and Sora had been arguing.

"You going to start too?" she snapped at Edward.

"No," he said flatly, "I just wanted to help."

"Help?" she turned to him, eyeing him for a moment.

"Well if you don't want it," he turned away but was swiftly grabbed by the shoulder.

"No, no, of course I do. Thank you. It's just hard to believe sometimes, what with all the stress of… well everything." She smiled up at him and he gave her a grin back.

"Besides, I want to get my mind off this stupid thing," he grabbed the Horcrux in show. She gave an understanding nod and handed him the carrots and a knife, giving him a smile as she instructed him.

Ron looked on for a few moments, defeated. He turned and plopped back down at the table, muttering and flipping through the cards unconsciously. Sora let out a small sigh but said nothing as he and Harry dropped their cards on the table. Ron picked up the deck and shuffled it, looking to them.

"Well then, know any other games?" Ron asked, bitterly.

"Go fish?" Sora shrugged.

"You're joking, right?" Harry asked.

"Er, I mean, _haha,_ yea I am…"

"What do you want to play then?"

"Umm… crazy eights?"

Ron paused, Harry looked to him for an answer.

"Fine," and Ron began to deal.

Hours passed like days, one could hardly look out side and not believe that it was even dark yet. When it was evening, Edward's shift of holding the Horcrux had finally ended. He turned away from the food counter and scanned the tent and finally spotted Riku, asleep on his cot. Since the magic of the wizards could to very little to fend against the Heartless in terms of a barrier, Riku was forced to use his ability to sense them to make sure they wouldn't receive a surprise attack. The process was draining to him simply because he was constantly alert. Whenever something pranced, hopped, or flew near them, he'd have to use his power to dive into the being's heart to get a sense of what it was. This left him open to the darkness, and vulnerable to the Horcrux's damaging effect

"Oi," Edward walked over, his voice seemed tiered and a bit hoarse.

Edward proceeded to shake Riku shoulder, rousing him from his deep sleep. Riku opened his eyes and looked up to Edward.

"Dinner?" he asked, hopeful.

"Damnation." He handed him the Horcrux. Riku, never one to argue against duty, took the trinket in hand and slid the cold chain over his head and let it rest around his neck. He could feel the horrible depression slip into his mind and sat up, allowing the hollow feeling to take over him once more.

He felt Edward's hand on his shoulder just then and look to him, surprised that he was still standing there. "Do you want something to drink?" he asked. Riku shook his head 'no', but Edward ignored it. "I think you do. You like tea, right?"

"I guess… not really thirsty though…"

"'S not the point." he walked over to where Hermione was boiling the carrots and gently asked for some of the boiling water.

"It's fine, as long as you don't mind a bit of a carrot taste." she nodded.

Edward scooped up some of the boiling water in a cup, making sure to use his right hand, and dug through Hermione's purse to find some tea bags. He brought it over to Riku, who grasped the mug in his icy hands. Both boys knew that the tea would help Riku feel better, thus warding off the Horcrux's strong effect it had on him. He gave a nod to Edward and a small, thankful smile. He nodded back in return and then turned and walked back over to the table and sat down next to Sora and Ron, and across from Harry.

"Something wrong with your voice, there, Ed?"

"Huh?"

"It's all horse, like you've been yelling."

"Dunno… it was cold out there earlier… I guess I just got a cold now."

"Oh sickness, that's exactly what we need right now." spat Ron. Everyone looked to Ron, expecting him to continue complaining, but he just looked back down and began to brood again.

Dinner came and went; Ron had suck in a few comments about the food, grunting and frowning as he picked at the boiled carrots and wet lettuce. This almost lead to an argument between himself and Hermione, but she no longer had the energy to argue with him. The night went on quietly, hardly anyone said anything. The Horcrux seemed to be taking its toll.

Soon after dinner, the friends were fast asleep in their cots, only Edward and Riku remained awake. Riku was meditating, though Edward was sure that at any moment he'd nod off and slump over unconscious. He himself was keeping his mind busy with the small sample of blood that had once belonged to a Chainer.

He turned the little vile over in his hands, watching the deep purple liquid run from one side of the vile to the next. The mix had revealed nothing to him, yet he was positive there was a way to find out what was in it.

'Sora said that both his and Riku's Keyblades couldn't penetrate the Heartless like they normally could,' he recalled to himself. 'I've seen them fight off Heartless for about as long as I've known them, the Keyblades they wield can slice through the Heartless in a single stroke, but nothing else.' He recalled the time when Sora would knock someone over the head with his weapon. The blunt force knocked them out, but nothing would be effected like the Heartless were by it. Edward lifted the little vile up to his eye, looking through it before putting it back down on the table and letting it roll between his finger tips. 'The only two distinguishable elements were so basic that they could be in any number of things or living organisms. The transmutation was obviously a…' he blinked and sat up right, looking to the vile. 'Transmutation? We're talking about Voldemort here… why would I think transmutation unless of course they were?' Edward uncorked the vile and let it run onto the table. He wasn't worried, for he knew that the blood would turn gummy-like and soft. 'This mimics the pattern of the Philosopher's stone. I've known him to be experimenting with it for two years now, even since he gathered what little information he could out of me from back during the Triwizard Tournament.' He gently picked the somewhat solid blood up and examined it. 'In the Ministry, that room had liquid that looked like this. If they brought those found guilty down there, what did they do next? Turn them into Heartless? Then how do they get these Chainers? What is a Chainer?' He looked at the blood as he held it in his gloved hand. Desperate and feeling fidgety, he set the stone-like blood aside and took his glove off his left hand. Edward reached over for the stone. A small spark lit up before his finger tip could touch its surface. 'It reacted? To what?' he put his hand on the stone, feeling a small charge vibrate weakly from it. 'Me?' He looked over to Riku in that moment, deciding to conduct a little experiment.

"Hey, Riku," he whispered harshly. Riku turned for where he sat, lifting up the blind fold far enough to peek out with one eye.

"Yea?"  
"Could you come over here for a second, I need some help."

"With the blood? You know that I don't know anything about Alchemy."

"I just need a hand."

Riku didn't know how literal Edward was being. He took his blindfold off and walked over to the card table. Eyeing him, he took a seat and waited for instruction.

"I need you to hold this." Edward offered it up.

"Is that the blood?"

"Yea."

"Why does it look like that?"

"It has several properties of the Philosopher's stone that make it react like that when it hasn't a container." He explained. "I just need you to hold it."

Riku didn't object and just held out his hand, letting his head rest on his other as he waited for Edward to hand it to him.

"If I'm correct, you'll feel the same electric charge I feel."

"Lets have it, then." Riku watched as the little stone was dropped in his palm. He closed his hand, waiting for any movement of feeling. Edward watched him expectantly, but Riku didn't seem to have any reaction.

"Nothing."

"Not even a charge or a zap?"

"Nope."

"Well, that's interesting." Edward leaned back, letting Riku play with it in his hand. "Looks like it only reacts to my Alchemic flow."

"Is that so strange? Seeing as how it is _Alchemic_?"

"Not very." He leaned back up and rested his head on his arms from the table's surface. "But every little thing counts."

"Yet you still don't know what the Chainers are?"

"Well it's not like I can strictly call them Heartless. They've been fused with the philosophers stone… but it feels like there's something more to their make-up." The boys grew silent and just looked to the stone in thought. Time wore on, and as Riku continued to fiddle with it he began to feel something as well.

"It feels sad…" Riku muttered. Having heard this, Edward lifted his head to him in question.

"It feels what?"

"Sad."

"I thought you said that… why?"

"I don't know… maybe I can feel the Philosopher's stone through it, or the lost hearts of the Heartless part… whatever it is, it's sad. Here, you feel it." He held his hand out for Edward to take it back. He reached over and grabbed the stone in Riku's hand. He had just barely scooped the stone in his fingers when the stone suddenly grew very hot and gave off a static charge that made Edward's left arm prickle. He gasped in surprise and tried to let go of the stone, but Riku suddenly grabbed his arm tightly and kept him there. His other hand held onto him from where the stone lay still in his palm. The peculiar look on his face alarmed Edward. Though he was looking at him, his wide eyes seemed to be witnessing something else. Edward tried to pull away, but Riku strongly kept him where he was. He had grown pale and his forehead began to sweat.

Edward stood, trying to get his hand back. The stone began to rapidly warm up, he felt the object burn in his hand. He tried his best not to yell out, but the stone was blazing hot, siring his flesh.

"What are you doing?" Edward gasped at last, "Let go!" still he was held in place. His struggles alerted the others, they woke up in alarm from Edward's yells. Harry, Ron, Sora, and Hermione had only just looked upon the scene when Riku suddenly let out a yell, and shoved himself away from the stone. A flash of lightning stretched out and tried keep the connection between the two boys hands, but died out in the next instant. Edward suddenly felt the charge from the stone disappear, and opened his hand to see red and blistered burns present on his flesh. The stone cracked in his palm, then vanished in a mist, dissolving into thin air like regular Heartless blood would.

Harry and Hermione reached Edward as Sora went over to help Riku.

"Hey, you alright? What just happened?" he asked. Riku didn't reply but took his hand and was helped back up.

"Cripes, what happened?" exclaimed Ron, upon seeing Edward's hand.

Hermione took Edward's hand in hers and had him sit back down.

"Oh, it looks nasty." She gasped, "I'll fix a remedy for it." she assured. She left to the kitchen area, leaving Harry and Ron a place to stand and look at the burn. Riku and Sora then saw Edward's mark. Riku bit his tongue out of hesitation before he said anything.  
"Ed, I'm sorry... I don't know… what happened to me there."

"Well where the hell _were_ you?" he snapped back. "The blood is gone!"

"What happened here?" Harry demanded. "What were you two doing?"

"I saw something." said Riku.

"Saw something?" asked Edward, ignoring Harry. "How?"

"I… I don't know _how_ exactly, but… I now know the main ingredient in making a Chainer."

"I don't understand, how do you know that? What did you see?" Harry asked. Riku sat back down but took a few moments to gather what he saw. Hermione had come back over to Edward and had placed his burnt palm into a mixture that cooled and soothed his burn. It had a strong smell of mint that stung his sinuses a bit. Everyone waited in silence for Riku to speak, tension hung in the air from the mystery of what made a Chainer impervious to the Keyblade.

"After you touched my hand," Riku began, "I saw… well— I was suddenly sitting down on the ground in the dark, I felt myself tied up. It was like watching a movie, being there but having someone else in control of my body— like I wasn't really myself, but someone else for a while." He paused, seeming a bit embarrassed from his confusing explanation. "I was yelling for somebody to help, the darkness began to move and shift around me. A Heartless appeared from the rest of the yellow eyes that peered down from the dark cloud, and stood opposite of myself just a few feet away. I was scared— I mean, the person that I embodied was scared, not me." he cleared his throat and hurried forward in his explanation. "I heard footsteps and suddenly there was a small red light in front of me. A man held a small glowing red stone in his hand. The whole place lit up suddenly, and I realized it was the secret room from in the Ministry! The man, he wore a black hood over his head, I couldn't see who it was— he fed me the glowing stone, shoved it in my mouth and forced me to swallow it down! Suddenly… suddenly I was grabbed from behind and lifted onto the spike! It pieced me… right through the middle here." He pointed to his chest. "The pain was intense… then the lone Heartless from before approached me and began to try and devour my heart. As soon as it got close though, I heard chanting, and the lights flashed around us. Everything grew bright, so incredibly bright… then it darkened. My body began to feel even more pain, and there was no escape from it. Every breath, every twitch or movement I could make was horrendously painful. All thought left me… and for a moment I worried that I couldn't stop watching… for a moment I thought I was that man." He was silent, looking down at the table where the stone lay.

"That's what you saw?" Harry asked. Riku gave a nod back to him, not removing his gaze from hat spot. "What was that you were holding, anyway?"

"It's was a bit of blood from a Chainer." Edward responded.

"Well what does it all mean?" asked Hermione, "The vision seems pointless to me. We all know that Heartless come from the darkness within our own hearts and turn us into Heartless as well." her friends silently nodded along with him, except for Edward.

"Riku," he began, "You said that when everything went dark again, you felt in pain?"

"Like even existing was just suffering." he nodded. Edward drew in a breath and relaxed in his chair as he let it out. The others looked to him in confusion, curious about his now relaxed demeanor. However, Edward was merely being thoughtful after recognizing the horror Riku must have seen.

"How many of us in here know what a chimera is?" he asked, his tone patient but leaning towards a hint of foreboding. Instinctively, Hermione raised her hand, gaining an odd look from Sora and Ron when she did. She quickly, in embarrassment, put it down and responded to him.

"A chimera is a beast with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and the tail of a snake." her answer didn't seem to satisfy him as he clicked his tongue.

"_A chimera_ is two or more souls transmuted into one living body. Such as a lion and a goat, a dog and a cat, or a human and a Heartless."

"Hold on," said Sora. "I'm confused; so a Chainer is a… a person and a Heartless combined? Directly?" he scratched his head. "So the Keyblade doesn't work effectively on them because… because they're human flesh and bone, but Heartless powers, mind, and hunger. Is that it?"

"That's sick," muttered Harry.

"If that's what Riku saw, if that's a philosopher's stone he saw, then that's got to be what it is. The Keyblade is designed to not vanquish a human, but vanquish the darkness and Heartless."

"But… who are they using to do this?" asked Sora, "There were dozens of Chainers in the village Riku and I went to, how are they getting people to do this?" He looked around to everyone for an answer. It was then Harry remembered the strange conversation he had had with Mr. Weasley only that morning.

'_You know exactly what happens, and it has nothing to do with Azkaban!'_

"They're made from Muggle-bourns!" he exclaimed.

"And Muggles." Edward nodded.

"Mr. Weasley, and Colonel Mustang, they must have figured out that the Ministry was doing something to the accused after they were sentenced, they would never reach Azkaban…"

"If only we'd known…" said Hermione, sadly. Edward nodded and let out a breath. He had wished the Colonel had let him in on what they were doing, but it was too late to think of that now.

Sora raised his head and looked to Riku, suddenly alarmed.

"Riku, Lt. Colonel Mustang! He's in danger still, isn't he?"

"That's right!" Riku turned to everyone else. "Roy blew his cover and saved us from Umbridge and the Ministry."

"Why was he there?" Harry asked, wildly astonished.

"Was he caught?" Hermione asked.

"We don't know," said Sora. "He gave us an out and we quickly took it. We don't know of he got caught and… and…" he bit his lower lip and looked down to the ground. Edward didn't speak, he only stared at the small stone that was the what he knew to be the Heartless blood. Frustration began to take over him. He could feel the panic and worry begin to make his head spin all over again. Though he worried, he knew that he couldn't do anything about it. He tried as best he could to push those feelings aside and just went quiet.

"Well, at least we know that much." Sora's voice was a near mumble. Ron scratched the back of his head and started to pace around. A few of their friends watched him as he turned back to speak.

"But what good does that even do us? Okay, so we know the Ministry is using Muggle-bourns for that, but its just more bad news, isn't it?"

Edward let out a breath and spoke up.

"Every bit of information is—"

"Yes, but that doesn't do us any good! What happens if they show up? They're still human, huh? Can't kill a human, can we? Not even if we wanted to, what with their Keyblades useless against them now!"

"Enough," said Riku. "Saying that does no one any good."

Harry spoke up at that time, assuming his role as leader.

"I think it's best if we all rest and pick this up tomorrow morning. Alright? I'll stand guard and we can all get some sleep, alright?" he looked around at al the worn, pale, faces that nodded back to him in agreement, then to Ron who was staring at him venomously. He finally nodded back to him and looked away. "Alright. Then lets go." And with that, everyone moved to their cots, say for Harry who traveled outside.

888

The next day everyone woke up and hardly said anything to one another. Everyone packed up their things into Hermione's purse and would disarm the spells and charms from the area before they would apperate away.

Currently it was seven in the morning, and the friends were in yet another forest, sitting and waiting for news to come their way. Sora, Edward, Harry, and Ron sat around the fold out table, cards in hand. Riku was asleep as Hermione was once more out, gathering food.

"Man!" Sora whined, "Not _again!_" he watched as Edward scooted the pebbles (which were their current poker chips) his way.

"Lady luck just loves me!" he smiled.

"Yea, a little _too_ much maybe…" Harry hummed. Edward looked up from counting his spoils to the accusing glares of his friends. He gulped, his eyes darting from one face to another.

"Wha… what's up… guys?" they were silent, but Edward knew what they were all thinking. He stood up, "Woah! You got it all wrong! Edward Elric plays an honest game!"

"You win almost every time we play," started Ron.

"I'm finding it a bit more than odd, myself…" Harry continued.

"Okay, stop right there!" Edward thrust his hands out. "I can't believe you'd think…" he watched, horrified, as cards slid out of his sleeve and onto the table. "… that I'd…" a few more spilled out, face up, reveling that they were aces. "…cheat."

"_Edward_…" Harry growled. "Have you been _cheating_ this whole time…?" his green eyes were piercing and suddenly seemed dangerous. Edward laughed nervously.

"What? No, I don't know how those got there—!"

"GET HIM!" yelled Ron. All boys tacked Edward and began to pummel him. He managed to slip out from under them and run out of the tent. The boys followed him, yelling and cursing as they chased after him. Edward burst out of the tent, seeing Hermione stand in front of him in shock. The others came out after him and he ducked behind her. They began shouting at Hermione to get out of the way and for Edward to quit hiding, but Edward held on to her shoulders and wouldn't let her move. There was much yelling, and bickering, and name-calling.

Riku came out of the tent just then, his eyes wide with what could only be preserved as fear.

"SHUT UP!" he roared out over all of them. He hurried over and grabbed Sora and Ron, throwing them back to quiet them. "SHUT UP!" he commanded again. Sora stepped forward, pointing accusingly to Edward.

"Did you know he's been cheating us out of our money!" Sora exclaimed, but he was 'shushed' by Riku.

"Do you hear that…?" he asked.

"No!" huffed Harry. He was shushed by Riku and forced to listen.

"There!" he insisted.

They listened, and they could in fact hear voices. Harry's heart began to pound, realizing how much noise they had all been making. He looked to Hermione.

"Please tell me you used a spell so they can't hear us." he begged. Hermione nodded.

"I did everything, Muffliato, Muggle-repelling, and Disillusionment Charms, all of it! They shouldn't be able to hear or see us whoever they are."

The group slowly went to the edge of the forest, beyond the boundary, where below a small cliff only several feet off of the ground was a small stream. They were hidden behind large bushes and were in the shadow of the trees. Gruff, deep, voices could be heard a little ways off, speaking in a language that Edward couldn't understand. 'Goblins' Hermione had mouthed to him. Hermione took out several Extendable Ears from inside of her purse and handed them out. Edward had to share one with Riku, but it was no problem, they could hear everything just fine. Edward listened in on them.

"Here Grip Hook, Gornuk."

"Thanks." They replied in English. Edward peeked through the brush and saw the ugly looking Goblins sitting by the river with three wizards and two cloaked figures. One of the hooded figures was taller than the other by several feet, the shorter one was as tall as a child, but much wider in the back.

"So, you been on the run for several weeks, huh?" asked one of the wizards. "An' where'd you two come from?" he looked over to the hooded figures. The taller one turned his head and replied in a light, southern accent.

"Gorsh, We're from outer—"

"Town!" the shorter one interrupted. "Outer town…" his voice was more like that of a quack, though you could hear every word distinctly. Edward's eyes widened as he realized who those two were.

"_What are they doing here_?" he could just barely hear Riku whisper. Edward shrugged and looked back out of the brush. The wizard turned back to the youngest one there and was speaking with him now.

"Muggle-bourn, eh?" asked the first man to the younger wizard.

"Yeah," said the voice. Everyone recognized who it was immediately. It was Dean, their friend from Hogwarts who was a fellow Gryffindor. "My dad left me mum when I was a baby. I don't have any proof he was a Wizard or not. What about you, Mr. Tonks?"

Edward, Sora, and Harry recognized the original voice to be Ted Tonks.

"I left because I didn't want to give my wife any trouble when they came looking for me. She's a pure blood so she'll be fine." he said. He turned to the third wizard at that time. "How about you, Dirk?"

"Six weeks… seven… I forget. Met up with Griphook in the first couple of days and joined forces with Gornuk not long after. Nice to have a bit of company."

"And where do you two fit in? I thought that Goblins were for You—Know—Who, on the whole." Asked Ted.

"You had a false impression." said the higher-voice of the goblins. "We take no side, this is a wizards war."

"Then what are ya doin' out here?" asked Goofy.

"I deemed it prudent," said the deeper-voiced goblin. "Having refused what I consider a impertinent request, I feared my life to be in jeopardy."

"What did they ask you to do?" asked Ted.

"Duties ill-befitting the dignity of my race." replied the goblin, his voice was rougher and less human as he said it. "I am not a house-elf."

"What about you, Griphook?"

"Similar reasons." said the higher pitched Goblin. "Gringotts is no longer under the sole control of my race. I recognize no Wizarding master."

He added something under his breath in what Edward was sure to be Gobbledegook, as he could not under stand a word of it. Gornuk laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Donald.

"He said, that there are things that wizards don't recognize either," said Dirk.

There was a short pause.

"I don't get it," said Dean.

"Goursh, me neither." said Goofy.

"I had my revenge before I left," said Griphook in English once more.

"Good man— or Goblin, I should say." amended Ted, hastily.

"Did you manage to stuff a Death Eater in a vault?"

"Even if we did, the sword would not have helped him break out." The Goblins laughed once again.

"I think we're missin' somethin' here." said Goofy.

"So is Serverus Snape, though he doesn't know it," said Griphook. The two goblins roared with mischievous laughter. Harry's breathing became shallow with excitement, he turned to Hermione and she too seemed to have an equal reaction of elation.

"Haven't you heard about it?" asked Dirk. "About the kids who tried to steal Gryffindor's sword out of Snape's office at Hogwarts?"

"Not a word of it," said Ted, "not in the _Prophet_, was it?"

"Hardly," chortled Dirk. "Griphook here told me, he heard about it from Bill Weasley who works for the bank. One of the kids who tried to take the sword was Bill Weasley's younger sister."

Edward leaned in closer, wondering what it was that had happened at that school since their absence. He hopped that no one had done anything incredibly foolish. He was about to be sorely disappointed.

"She an' a couple of her friends got into Snape's office and smashed open the glass case where he was apparently keeping the sword." Dirk continued, "Snape caught them as they were trying to smuggle is down the stair case."

"Gorsh…!"

"What'd they think they could do with it?" asked Dean, "Run _You-Know-Who_ through with it? Or Snape himself?"

"Whatever they thought they were going to do with it, Snape decided that it wasn't safe, and moved it to Gringott's instead."

The Goblin's started to laugh again.

"I don't get what's so funny!" said Donald, frustrated.

"It's a fake," rasped Griphook. They all began to laugh at this.

"Wha—! The sword of Gryffindor!"

"Oh yes. It's a copy— an excellent copy, its true— but it was Wizard-made. The original was forged centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armor possesses. Wherever the genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at Gringotts bank."

"I see," said Ted, "And I take it you didn't bother telling the Death Eaters this?"

"I saw no reason to trouble them with the information." said Griphook smugly, and now everyone was joining in the goblin's laughter.

Edward noticed that Riku was beginning to push back away from the brush, and then saw everyone do the same. Edward followed without a word, though his head was so full of questions, he was worried that someone would somehow hear him. No one spoke until they were near the tent once more; Edward once more had to be firmly lead forward as he was suddenly distracted with the idea of going back to polish his automail. Harry thanked Hermione for the Muggle-Repellent charm but found dragging a consumed and determined Edward back with them was a hassle.

After his desire to polish his automail else where had passed, he remembered what it was that was even more pressing at the time. He worried for his friends he had made back at Hogwarts, about the punishment they had received.

"What sword, what were they talking about? What was Donald and Goofy doing there?" asked Edward.

"Well," Sora spoke up, "We did know that they had left the world to talk to the king… suppose they're tryin' to find us, Riku?" he asked him. Riku gave a small shrug and put a hand in his pants pocket.

"Dunno." he replied. "but whatever it is I'm sure we can trust that they're here by the King's order. I'll go back and see if I can communicate with them."

"I'll go too." Sora nodded. He and Riku left.

"Be careful," Harry warned, sternly.

"Always am." Riku replied back, and they went silent as they passed through the barrier. Harry turned back to Hermione after they had left.

"We need to see if—"

"I'm on it." She turned and left into the tent ahead of them. Harry, Ron, and Edward raced inside the tent together. They watched as Hermione was up to her armpit, reaching around in her purse only to finally pull a framed picture out.

"It's that frame from Grimmauld Place!" exclaimed Harry.

"We can find out exactly what happened now." smiled Hermione.

"Brilliant, Hermione!" exclaimed Harry. He, Edward, and Ron huddled around Hermione and the empty frame. Hermione called into the frame for Phineas Nigellus.

"Professor Black?" she called, but there was no answer. "Professor? Please, could we talk to you, please?" Hermione begged.

"'Please' always helps," said a cold, snide voice, and Phineas slid into his portrait. At once, Hermione cried:

"_Obscuro!_"

A black blindfold appeared over Professor Black's cleaver, dark eyes, causing him to bump into the frame and shriek with pain.

"What— how dare you— what are you—? Remove this foul addition at once!"

"Not a chance," came Edward's voice he stood over his friends looking down at the painting. "Can't go spilling all our secrets, now can we?"

"Is that the voice of FullMuggle I hear?" he asked, slowly, and with intrigue.

"It's Full_Metal_,"

"We've got a couple of questions to ask you— about the sword of Gryffindor."

"And Mr. Potter, you're all here." he said, snidely. "Yes, that foolish little girl thought she could steal from the Headmaster. She deserved her punishment, along with that Lovegood _oddity_ and the idiot Longbottom as well."

"Luna is not and oddity and Nevil is not an idiot!" said Hermione.

"Where am I?" repeated Phineas Nigellus, starting to wrestle with the blind fold again. "Where have you brought me? Why have you removed me from the house of my forbearers?"

"Never mind about that," said Harry, "How did Snape punish Ginny, Neville, and Luna?"

"_Professor_ Snape sent them into the forest, to do some work for the oaf, Hagrid."

"Hagrid is not an oaf!" Edward growled. Harry let out a laugh, feeling relieved.

"The forest? Snape might have thought that was punishment, they've been through worse than that. I bet they were all having a good laugh with Hagrid." He felt relived, he had expected something foul, like having to revive Filtche's old ways of punishment.

"We still have a question about the sword," said Harry. "Can you bring us Dumbledore?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Could you bring Dumbledore in to the frame with you?"

"Evidently it is not only Muggle-bourns who are ignorant, Potter. The portraits at Hogwarts may commune with each other, but they cannot travel outside the castle except to visit a frame of themselves hanging else where. Dumbledore cannot come here with me, and after the treatment I've received I can assure you I shall not be making a return visit. Well perhaps it's time for me to return to the Headmaster's office now anyway." said Phineus.

"Wait!" Edward called. Phineus stopped, turning in the direction that he heard Edward call to him.

"What now?"

"Erm… well, ah… "

"Hurry, Mr. FullMuggle, I don't have all day."

"Well… I once heard in a fairy tale that goblin's made the finest armor and the best swords, much more so than any alchemist could ever dare dream without the help of the philosopher's stone. Is the sword of Gryffindor really that strong?"

"Of course you silly Muggle! The school owns a genuine goblin-made sword!"

"Was the sword ever taken out of its case— before Ginny?" he asked. Hermione, Harry, and Ron looked to him, surprised.

Phineas snorted impatiently and muttered. "I'd never think that Muggles were ever told anything of the sort…" he stopped mumbling and then answered Edward's question. "I believe the last time I had saw the sword of Gryffindor leave it's case was when Professor Dumbledore used it to break open a ring."

A grin spread across Edward's face, triumphant and brimming with confidence. "Bingo…" he muttered.

"Well, good night to you." said Phineas. With that, he left his portrait.

Hermione stuffed the portrait back in her purse and whipped around, beaming at Edward. "That was brilliant!" she exclaimed, hugging him. Harry patted him on the shoulder.

"Ha, I didn't think _you'd _ever ask a thing like that!" Harry praised. "Why did you think to ask it?"

"I don't know," Edward shrugged, smiling. "I thought, since I had heard all that stuff from outside, and with the Goblins and all…" he laughed and Harry and Hermione laughed too.

"So, the sword can cut through Horcruxs," Harry thought, eagerly.

"Goblin-made blades imbibe only to that which strengthen them—Harry that sword is impregnated with basilisk venom!" Hermione exclaimed.

"—and Dumbledore didn't hand it over to us because he thought he'd still be around to need it!" Edward added. "He wanted to use it for the locket—"

"And he must have realized the Ministry wouldn't hand it over if he put it in his will—" Hermione continued.

Harry, "—so he made a copy—"

Hermione, "—and put a fake in the glass case—"

Edward, "—and left the real one—"

"—where?" Harry wondered. Edward and Hermione gazed at each other, then to Harry. It was as if the answer were dangling invisibly in the air in front of them, tantalizingly close. Why hadn't Dumbledore told Harry this before?

"Think!" whispered Hermione. "Think! Where would he have left it?"

"Not at Hogwarts," said Harry, he began to pace.

"Somewhere in Hogsmeade?" asked Edward, clueless.

"The Shrieking Shack?" added Harry.

"Too close to Hogwarts," said Hermione.

"Yea, you're right…" Harry thought. "So far from Hogsmead? Wha'd you reckon, Ron?" a pause, "Ron?"

Harry looked around. For one bewildered moment, everyone had thought that Ron had left the tent. Then he spotted him, he was sitting in the shadow of the lower bunk of his bed, looking stony.

"Oh, remembered me, have you?" he said. "Go on, don't let me spoil your fun."

A few plunks sounded against the roof of the tent. Rain had begun to fall on them.

Harry stepped forward to Ron. "What's the problem?" he asked.

"Problem? There's no problem," Ron still refusing to look at any of them, "At least, according to you."

"There's obviously a problem, so why don't you just spit it out."

Ron shot him a glare, then stood up right.

"Alright, I'll spit it out. Don't expect me to go skipping about just because Eddy-boy knows something— or there's some other damn thing we have to find!"

"Woah, where'd this come from?" asked Edward.

"Oh it's just the mere fact that, seeing as how we have no leads, it's just a long list of things," he looked to Harry, "that you don't know."

"I don't know?" Harry repeated. "_I_ don't know?"

_Plunk, plunk, plunk,_ the rainfall was starting to fall harder and heavier.

"It's not like I'm having the time of my life here either," Ron continued, "Hardly enough food to feed us all, I'm freezing my backside off and I nearly bleed to death! I just hopped, you know, after we'd been running round a few weeks, we'd have achieved something."

"We have a Horcrux, Ron." Hermione reminded.

"What— did you think we'd be staying at five star hotels, finding a Horcrux every other day? Sorry to disappoint you." said Harry.

"Ron," came Hermione's tiny voice. "Please, take off the Horcrux. You wouldn't be saying these things if you'd been wearing it all day."

"Yes he would have," he wasn't going to let Ron have any excuses made for him. "You've been stewing on this the entire time!" he barked at Ron. Ron took step closer to him.

"Maybe I have. I thought you knew what you were doing, but were so lost that we haven't even so much as fought off a Heartless!"

"In case you forgot, that's a _good_ thing." Edward spat.

"Shut your mouth, Ed," Ron snapped, "you strut around like you _'know'_ things, like you're better than us! Like your Alchemy is so big and powerful! It hasn't done a thing for any of us!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you've been one trouble after another! Getting kidnapped, nearly killing Harry one or two times— you know something, you suck as a body guard— and a friend!"

"Ron!" Hermione gasped.

"He does! He gets in the way, he gets kidnapped—"

"Shut the hell—"

"…_easily,_ and he puts us all in even more danger! Especially last year when—"

"What the hell makes _you_ so damn important? All I've ever seen you do around here is whine, bitch, and get hurt!" he yelled.

"I do a lot less to endanger us than you do!" he turned to Harry. "He's the one You-Know-Who wants! I say let's leave him behind next time we go!"

"Ron!" exclaimed Harry. "What's gotten into you that you would betray our friend!"

"He is not my friend."

"You got that right!" yelled Edward.

"He's useless!"

"He figured out what a Chainer was!" Hermione defended.

"Big deal! Still can't kill it, can we?" he argued. "We don't have any leads, we're all hungry, and cold, and in danger!"

"Knock it off Ron," warned Edward. "We're all tiered and hungry but you don't see us—"

"You're not the leader here, don't tell me to knock it off!" he raised his voice. "It's all hopeless now, isn't it?" he turned to Harry who was glaring at him. "So what now? Wait around for You-Know-Who? Better yet he'll send that monster, Envy, to kill us off. Paint the tent red with out blood!"

"Ron!" barked Edward.

"Or how about some Heartless that we _can't kill_? That'll be a riot!" he shouted, hysterically. Edward growled and strode over to Ron.

"Yea, Ron, lets just all give up and run home to mommy." he snapped.

"You shut up about my mother!" he yelled back, "At least I've never been stupid enough to get my brothers killed!"

"Son of a—!"

Edward drew his fist back fast, but Hermione cast a spell that repelled Edward's punch from him. Edward was thrown back from the force he had exerted that backfired on him. It was like a bubble had been placed around himself.

"That's enough Ron!" shouted Harry. "If you hate it here so much then why don't you just leave?"

"Maybe I will! After all, _I've-Faced-Worse-Potter_ wouldn't care about Ginny or what happened to her!"

"That's not true, I was just saying— she was with the others— with Hagrid!"

"Yea, I get it, you don't care!" he nodded. "Right then, I won't bother myself about my own family. It's alright for you lot, isn't it, with your parents safely out of the way—"

"My parents are _dead_!" Harry bellowed.

"And mine could be going the same way!" yelled Ron. "But what the hell do any of you care?"

"Then GO!" roared Harry, "Go back to them, pretend you got over spattergroit and Mummy'll be able to feed you up and—"

Ron reached for his wand, Edward clapped, and Harry reached for his— but before any of them could strike, Hermione raised her wand.

"_Protego!" _she cried out. The boys glared at each other from behind the transparent barrier, as if seeing each other clearly for the first time. Edward felt a corrosive hatred to Ron: a line had been crossed between them that he felt he'd never forgive. The silence wore on for only seconds more before Harry's anger once more began to simmer.

"Leave the Horcrux." Harry said.

Ron wrenched the chain from around his neck and chucked it into a nearby chair. He looked to Hermione just then.

"What are you doing?"

"What?" she asked. Tears were already forming at her eyes.

"Are you staying with them or what?"

"I…" she looked to Harry and Edward, anguished, then back. "Yes, I'm staying. Ron we said we'd go with Harry, we said we'd help along with Edward—"

"Always with Edward! Fine, I get it, you chose him!" he turned and stormed out of the tent, into the rain.

"Ron, no— please— come back— come back!" she released the spell around her and went after him. She was stopped as someone entered.

"Yo," said Sora. He and Riku entered the tent, smiling and dripping wet from the rain. They noticed the change in mood almost instantly. They were nearly knocked over by Hermione shouldering past them.

"Ron!" she cried.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, looking back to Harry and Edward.

"He's leaving." Harry said, bitterly.

"What? Why?"

"Because he's a selfish ass, that's why!" Edward snapped back. Sora turned and dashed back out into the heavy rain, leaving the three of them alone. Edward began to pace and mutter darkly to himself, the rage he felt was almost overwhelming.

"You didn't help either with any of it you know!" said Harry, turning to him. Edward stopped and looked back, narrowing his eyes at Harry.

"Don't even start with that."

"If you had let me handle it everything would have been fine!"

"Oh right, you had everything under control alright. Just like you have this whole situation under control!" he blew up.  
"So now you agree with Ron, do you? Think I don't know where we're going or what to do next! Well then, Ed, you think of something! You think you're so damn smart!"

"Guys!" Riku yelled over them, but Edward ignored him.

"I am smart! I'm smarter than all of you, but your crazy backwards world is full of so many wand-waving nut jobs—"

"Enough!" Riku yelled again. They turned to him and both snapped.

"Stay out of this!"

"Do you think now is the time to be arguing? We can't afford to lose anyone! Have you forgotten that?" Riku looked from one to the other, hoping that'd force them back to their senses.

"You should have stayed out of it!" Harry snapped at Edward. "He's my friend, he would have listened."

"Oh I'm sorry, when the hell did I become you servant?"  
"That's not— you just make things worse!"

"Worse? I make things _worse_? Fine! Leave me behind then!"

"I didn't—"

"Screw you!"

"You prat!"

"Ass!"

"Shrimp!"

"I quit!" he yelled out.

Silence rung out as Harry and Riku stared at him. He was breathing heavily, an enraged look in his eye as he stared Harry down.

"That's it… I quit."

"Quit?" Harry's words nearly a whisper. "Quit, _what_?"

"I quit being your body guard."

"You… but…" Harry shook his head and glared fiercely at Edward. "That's fine! Who needs you? Your just here because otherwise you'd be captured by—"

"Harry!" Riku snapped. "Edward, please, don't go."

"I wouldn't let you go anyway!" Harry barked back. "I'd tie you up and drag you if I have to! You're not going to endanger us by getting caught!"

"Go? I can't go anywhere!" he said in nearly a laugh. "I'm stuck with you because I don't know where the hell we are!"

Silence. Riku looked from Harry, to Edward, to Harry as he himself scrambled in his mind for something to say.

"Fine. Good. You quit," nodded Harry, "I won't expect anything from you then. You're our hostage instead. Better? Does that fill your ego?"

"Up yours, Scar Head." Edward muttered, venomously. He turned and walked over to his cot. Harry furrowed his brow and turned away, going over to the table and sat in it. Riku looked from one to the other, completely at a loss for words. He let out a breath and decided to go and wear the Horcrux so that someone was looking out for it. He had just picked up the golden trinket when he heard crying. Everyone turned to the tent entrance to watch as Hermione entered, her face stained with tears and her sopping hair plastered to her face.

"They're g-g-gone! Dissaperated! Both of them!" She then threw herself into a chair, curled up, and started to cry. Harry, Riku and Edward watched her for a second, before turning their gaze away from her and listened to the rain as silence slowly sunk in.

((Ah… finals are kicking my butt. Don't worry, this story is still going strong! Tell me if you feel the manner in which Edward argued was OOC and what I can do to improve. The cussing I though was nessesary just because I didn't feel that an enraged and tiered Edward and Harry had much though to insult intellectually at that heated moment. If you disagree please let me know. Eden K.))


	10. Muggle Clensing

Muggle Cleansing

By

Deon ((Aiyaaaa! Sorry about the late chapter guys and gals. Had to really think about this chapter. Read on!))

Sora ran after Hermione and Ron, the rain pounded hard against his face as he hurried through the forest. He could just hear their voices up ahead, Ron was yelling and Hermione was sobbing. Finally he broke through the line of trees and into the small, wet and muddy grass clearing. Ron stood facing Hermione, his attention on Sora the moment he broke through the clearing. Hermione was only a foot away from Sora, looking back at his with what Sora could only guess to be a tear stained face. It was dark, and Sora could just barely make out their bodies against the blackness. Ron held up his wand just then, the light blue illuminating himself and the outline of Hermione.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Come to take me back, huh? Or are you here to say that those two didn't mean it? I'm bloody sure they did!"

"Ron, just where are you going to go?" Sora asked, raising his voice over the rain. "Don't you know that once you leave, you'll never be able to find us?"

"And good riddance I say."

"You don't mean that!" pleaded Hermione. "Please, Ron, please come back!"

"No way! Not with those two show boaters. Harry's leading us blindly and all Edward ever does is sit there and rely on our magic."

"That's not true!" defended Sora. "There's something else Ron, what is it? What really got you so mad?"

"THAT'S IT! THAT'S ALL THERE IS!" he yelled out, sending Hermione into another fit of sobs. Sora approached Ron, reaching out a hand to grab his shoulder to clam him down, but Ron lurched forward and pushed him back.

Something on the wet forest floor landed with a thick thud in the mud. No one noticed the little item to have dropped from Ron's pocket.

"Please, Ron—!" Hermione started.

"It's too late, Hermione!" he turned on her, his eyes wild with rage. "I saw what you did, that night when we all thought the midget bastard betrayed us, in the Ministry!"

"What?" Hermione breathed.

"I saw what he did, and I wished he had sent us to that hell rather than watch what he did."

"What are you talking about Ron?"

"Never mind…" he muttered, his face red. "Well that's it, you've made your choice then. Both of you?"

"Not both of us." said Sora. Ron turned back, surprised. "I'll go with you."

"Oh why? You think I need looking after? Like I'm too stupid to do anything on my own?"

"No." he said firmly. "I just don't like the thought of a friend alone."

"Stuff it." He muttered. "I'm going, and that's the end of it. Have fun on your adventure together then— _with Edward._" he glared at Hermione. Before either of them could say anything Ron apperated away, leaving behind only the loud 'pop' that was drowned out from the rain.

Cold, wet, and sorely depressed, Hermione held her arms and sobbed to herself uncontrollably. Both friends were left in the dark, alone. Sora made his way to Hermione and hugged her, sharing what little body warmth he had to give.

"It's alright Hermione, everything is going to be okay."

"N-no, it isn't," she choked, "Ron was-was right, about everything."

"Hermione, you don't mean…?"

"I did, I-I kissed Edward." She sobbed for a moment, "and before that, he had kissed me." She turned into Sora and cried harder. "Now he's gone and I… I can't tell him" she sobbed, "how much he..." Her sobs drowned out her words, her guilt bubbling over it's limit and spilling down her cheeks.

Sora's heart pained for Hermione, and he held her close as she cried. He closed his eyes, wishing with all his might that Ron would come back, wondering what kind of mood hung about in the tent now, and if they'd ever see their friend again. His eyes opened slightly, peering into the forest where he could see the faint light of the camp-sight just a distance away. It was then that he pulled away from Hermione and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes you will."

"What?" she sniffed. Sora stepped back away from her, going to the place where Ron himself had disappeared. "Sora… Sora you're not leaving too…!" she whispered.

"I'll be back though," he smiled. "And so will Ron, I promise."

"No! Sora— wait! You don't even know where he is!"

"Don't worry, I know I'll find him."

"How!" her frustration began to boil over. "Explain, how could you possibly find him when he could have apperated anywhere?"

With that, Sora lifted his hand and put it over his heart, giving her a warm smile.

"You can't be serious." She yelled, distraught.

"Riku can sense it, he knows better then anyone that all of us are connected. I can feel it, even now. I know I'll bring him back." The look on Hermione's face in the faint light seemed to be a mix of disbelief and anger. He smiled gently to her, trying his best to assure her. "Take care of Edward and Harry for Ron and I."

"Sora, don't—!"

"Later," And with the sound of a loud 'pop' Sora disappeared into the night, leaving Hermione to stand in the cold, dark rain, alone.

Sora reappeared, his feet landing firmly on the wet asphalt, a blue light that surrounded him suddenly disappeared as well. Sora looked around, curious as to what the light was.

'That's never happened before.' he wondered. He took a step and felt something off set his footing. 'Something is stuck in my shoe.' Frowning, thinking it was a rock or a sick, he lifted his foot and looked into the deep groves of the rubber grip. To his surprise he found a lighter stuck wedged in his heal, covered in mud and dripping wet. 'Gross.' He frowned. He lifted the lighter and looked it over as he walked. He pocketed the little thing, deciding to throw it away when he got the chance. Any other thoughts of the lighter vanished in the instant his eyes spotted Ron walking down the cold empty street just ahead of him. Elated and amazed that his words to Hermione were true, he joyfully called over to Ron, waving his hand in the air.

Ron turned, a scowl on his face was quickly replaced by a mix of horror and surprise. Sora ran over to him, stopping just in front of him.

"There you are."

"Wha— how'd you— Why are you here!" he demanded, angered. Sora didn't expect Ron's reaction to be any different, but was taken back all the same.

"I told you, didn't I? I hate to see a friend out on his own."  
Ron eyed him and sniffed. "Go back."

"Only if you go back with me."

"Forget it."

"Alright." He shrugged. Ron frowned at him and eyed him suspiciously.

"How'd you get here. I didn't say anything about where I was going."

"I know."

"Then how did you get here?"

"I just kinda… apperated without thinking."

"That doesn't make any— oh forget it." He turned sharply and began walking again. "You're the best apperator out of all of us, you probably can just do it willy-nilly." He muttered darkly.

Sora followed behind him and from the side. After a few moments of quietly walking, Ron turned his head to look at him.

"It's not going to work."

"What?" Sora turned to him.

"I know what your doing here." Ron replied, haughtily. "You're going to try and convince me that everything's okay and that I should go back to wandering aimlessly around with the rest of them in Dumbledore's expedition, is that it?" he wheeled around so suddenly that Sora had been caught of guard. The boys stood face to face, Sora shrugged his shoulders up to his ears, looking into Ron's angry eyes as they stared back at his. He gave him nothing more but a small humorous smile in reply. He watched Ron grow very tense, as if he were about to lash out, but instead he turned back around and continued walking away. Sora let out a quiet breath and followed after.

The night sky was blackened, stars were out shined by the yellow light of street lamps. Cars rolled up and down the streets, passing each other and turning corners to get to their own homes. People waked out of shops as the lights began to turn off in the windows, quitting time for them. Everybody was leaving to go back to their homes, the only ones who weren't moving with them were Sora and Ron.

"So, where are we?" Sora asked, looking around.

"You don't recognize it?" Ron asked him, flatly. "It's the small town we made camp near 'bout three days ago."

"Oh… why here?"

"I'm hungry. Really friggin' hungry." He stopped in the street and turned his head as he looked about. "There has to be some kind of late diner, or coffee shop, or _something_." Ron grabbed at his belly, feeling it gurgle within him. He didn't say another word to Sora, and continued walking.

Sora walked along side Ron quietly, not saying a word. He looked about him self, searching for a place that was open late. He didn't notice a strange divot in the road and had accidentally tripped into it.

"Oouf!" Sora hit the ground with a thud, causing Ron to jump. He looked down at Sora, with a raised eyebrow. Sora looked up to him, giving an embarrassed smile. "Sorry." He apologized. Ron merely rolled his eyes, and turned to wait for Sora folding his arms and giving him an aggravated glare. He rose back up and brushed the wet mud off of his hands and knees. He looked back to what it was he had tripped on, only to see a divot that stretched onward to his right and left, ending at the corner of a building as it connected with another divot. It were is if someone had taken huge strips of the road and made them connect at different angles. "Weird." Sora then turned back and spotted a pub a few blocks down the street that was still open. "What about there?" Sora offered, pointing. Ron eyed him bitterly, then looked to the pub entrance. Music was flooding out of the building, along with the sound of laughter and mugs clinking together. The place seemed so warm and happy, quite the opposite of how Ron felt. Despite the difference between his mood and that of the pubs', he nodded his head and allowed himself to follow Sora into the building.

The place reeked of cigar and cigarette smoke, stale ale, and body oader. The place was packed with adult Muggles all laughing and hooting to one another. The music of the Rolling Stones could be heard over all the cheers and hollers. Sora and Ron sat down in a booth, looking around the narrow pub. There wasn't a chance of a Death Eater showing up in a Muggle-filled place like this, or a Ministry worker for that matter.

The seats that lined the bar were all filled up with people sitting on them and looking up to the corner of the room at a television. Some adults stood in between the bar stools and huddled around the bar just to watch the soccer game that was showing. The dim lighting of the room was further clouded out by the smoke that hung in the air, leaving a bad taste in the boy's mouth as they inhaled.

"I hope what we order is better than the air I'm tasting." Sora said.

"Little chance of that, mate." Ron huffed. He folded his arms in front of him and let his head rest on the wooden booth table.

A few moments of waiting in silence passed before a waitress walked over to the boys with a note pad.

"Wha'll ya have?" she spoke in a deep gravely voice, as if she had taken sandpaper and wrapped her voice box with it. Sora looked to her, but was distracted momentarily by the mole that seemed to twitch on it's own just above the upper lip. Her blond hair frizzed out and grew from brunet roots. She had blue eye makeup that reached all the way up to the eyebrows, and ruby red lipstick that gave Sora the impression he was talking to a very nicely dressed fish rather than a woman. He stared for a few seconds, taken aback by the hideous waitress and her undulating mole. "_Well_?" She snapped. Sora blinked and remembered what it was he was doing at the warm, smelly pub in the first place.

"Erm, a burger and fries." He replied, quickly. He jabbed Ron in the arm with his fist a few times to shake him out of sleep. Ron groaned and mumbled as he rubbed his face, placing his order as he turned his head.

"I'll have a steak with a side of— _Merlin's beard_!" he nearly jumped out of his seat when he laid eyes on their waitress. She gave him a nasty look and waited for the rest of his order. Ron gave a small cough as he settled down and placed his order once more. "A steak and a side of…"

"Our sides for steak are potatoes, chips, or a special guacamole." She spoke as she penciled in Ron's order with a shiny pencil that seemed to match her fingernails.

"Mole…" Ron muttered,

"Beg your pardon?" She eyed him dangerously. Ron jumped and sputtered thoughtless words to cover.

"Mole— _moley_— guacamole! That's what I want!" He turned his face away, but could not hide the red that now rushed to his ears. The waitress sneered and walked away from their table.

Ron and Sora turned their heads to watch her waddle away and through the swinging kitchen doors. It was only when she was gone did Sora and Ron begin to laugh. Sora held his sides, looked at Ron as tears began to form in his eyes.

"Did you just point out her mole three times or order a side dish?" he laughed.

"I have no clue," Ron laughed with him. "_Merlin's beard_, did you see that thing _twitch_?"

"Yea, it's like it has a life of it's own!"

"I was about ready to pull my wand on it and send it flying like the garden gnomes." Ron laughed again.

The smoky inside of the pub, with all its loud cheers and sharp clanks of beer mugs crashing together, felt oddly safe. It was as if they had finally found a haven full of warmth and cheer. Ron thought this to himself quietly, he picked as the small splinters that stuck up from the tabletop. The silence between himself and Sora wore on for what felt like hours until finally Ron lifted his gaze to look at Sora, wondering when it would be that he would try and talk him into going back. Sora looked back to Ron, gave him a small smile, then once more turned his gaze out and around him self.

"Alright," said Ron, "When are you going to start this?"

Sora turned back to Ron, confused. "Start what?"

"Start lecturing me about how I was wrong, and that Harry does know where he's going, and how I was acting selfish…?" he went quiet giving Sora a look as he waited for him to pick up on it. Sora looked from Ron, then back to the table, frowning. He lifted his gaze back to his friend and said nothing for a moment, then gave a small playful smile.

"Well, if you figured that much out on your own…"

"You're hopeless…" Ron rubbed his face. Sora gave a small laugh at that comment.

"I'm what?"

"Hopeless."

"How am I hopeless?" he laughed again. Ron leaned forward on his elbows, both his hands extended palms up as if to present Sora with some ultimate truth.

"You want me to come back with you, don't you?"

"Sure." He nodded. Sora leaned forward as well, folding his arms on the splintered table.

"And you want everything to be all _hunky-dory_ between Edward, Harry and I, don't you?"

"That would be nice."

"So you're going to come up with some formulated speech to show just how important friendship is and all that other _bull-crap_, just so we can go running back to the others? Is that it?"

"Nope." Sora smiled as Ron grew flustered.

"What?"

"Nope."

"No you're not going to give me a speech?"

"Yup."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to follow you." said Sora. "I'm going to follow you and wait until you want to go back. When that happens we'll go back together." He knocked on the table's wooden surface and leaned back in his seat with the same friendly smirk he had on before. Ron eyed him up for a moment, then turned his head looking out at everything.

"I'm not going back." Ron said, stubbornly.

"Sure, Ron, sure." Sora nodded. He too was looking out and about him.

"I'm not! Especially after getting away from '_the chosen one_' and his Alchemist _sidekick_." he spat.

Ron avoided eye contact and looked out to the bar area for the waitress. His stomach gave another hungry growl and a sharp pain formed. He grabbed at his stomach and grumbled under his breath. He stood up and left the table, beginning to walk to the kitchen.

"Where you going?" asked Sora.

"Kitchen."

"You're going to get us kicked out." he warned, but Ron waved him off and entered the swinging kitchen door.

The kitchen had a strange odor to it that was a cross between cigar smoke and mold. It made his question whether he really wanted to eat here or not. He passed by the grimy pots and pans that were stacked up on the silver tray topped islands. The small brick kitchen was empty except for the small rat that was now doing away with a half-eaten sandwich that still had a toothpick holding it together. Ron looked to the rat and grimaced, who was suppose to be cooking here?

"Hello?" he called out. "Anyone here?" he walked passed the rat and it's dinner. He walked over to a door in the back that had been left open. "Hello? I've been waiting for my bloody food for half-an hour… the rat's eating better than I am… hello?" he made his way over to the door, stepping over the pots and pans that had spilled to the floor some time ago.

Ron reached the open back door, he heard voices whispering somewhere out into the darkness of the ally way. His heart leapt in his chest, and he stuck to the back wall of the kitchen, peeking out to the all way as he listened hard to the soft, harsh whispers.

"I'll ask you again, have you seen these boys?" said a cold, harsh voice. Ron could just barely make out the figure of an ugly short man in dark robes and only a tuft of red hear on the top of his egg-shaped head. He was holding both the waitress and the cook hostage with his wand he held pointed to them. They were tied up in rope and looked quite beaten already. The cook was a large man with a grease-stained shirt. His chubby face looked as though someone had took a tenderizing mallet to his face.

"No!" the woman sobbed. "I never seen no blond-lookin' shorty! Never!"

"Are you lying?" the small man asked.  
"No!" she sobbed again.

"What 'bout a red headed, freckle-mug and a frizzy haired bent?"

"Red head?" she piped up. Ron's eyes widened, watching her nod in the dark. "Yea, freckles, right? Yea, yea, I did! Honest I did!"

Ron didn't need to hear the rest, he turned from the doorway and ran across the kitchen as fast as he could. He almost reached the door to the pub when his foot caught on a large pot. He tripped, catching a metal tray as he went down and sending what had been resting on it flying into the air. The pots and pans crashed down loudly all about him. Ron stood up, lifting himself out of the pots and pans that had piled on him.

The strange ugly wizard had entered the kitchen his blue eyes scanned the room until they rested on Ron. The man raised his wand and shouted out a spell, a jet of red light shot out at Ron. Ron lifted the pot in front of him and guarded against the spell. It bounced off Ron's silver pot, reflected off of another hanging pan, bounced off several more pots back and forward, then hit the rat. The wizard and Ron watched the rat fly off the sandwich and hit the man straight in the face.

Ron did not hesitated in turning and running out the door, closing it as another spell had been sent his way. It bounced off the metal sheen of the door and hit the man straight in the head, sending him and the rat that occupied his mouth flying back.

Ron dashed over to where Sora remained sitting in the booth. He looked to Ron but before he could say anything Ron began whispering harshly to him. "We have to go!"

"I told you not to complain." He said, flatly.

"There's a dark wizard here, looking for us!" Ron urged, pulling at Sora's arm. "We have to get outta here!"

"Is that such a good idea?" Sora asked. "If we're on the streets they might find us." He warned.

"What do we do?" Ron asked. Sora looked from him, then over to the kitchen door.

"Where's the wizard?" Sora asked.

"Stunned. His spell flew off the door and hit him and the rat."

"What rat?"

"Never mind— he's in there." Ron pointed. Sora and Ron rushed over to the kitchen door, weaving around people as they went until finally pulling the heavy swinging door open. Sora and Ron look around, but the room was empty. The clutter of pots and pans was still on the floor, but no dark wizard.

"I don't see him," said Sora.

"He was right there, I'm sure of it!" said Ron.

The small, wrinkly face of the man suddenly ducked down from above the doorway, his wand pointed at them as he growled. The boys yelped and jumped back, letting the heavy door swing in to the man's face. Though the door was closed, they heard the loud crash of the man falling down into the clutter of pots and pans. Sora opened to door once again and saw the man was truly knocked out onto the floor.

"Huh… I guess when magic can't do the trick, leave it to good ol' gravity to finish the job." Sora said.

"What'll we do?" asked Ron again, stepping around the man. "If he has buddies they'll come looking for him."

Before Sora could answer, they heard a noise coming from the ally way, it sounded like footsteps. The boys glanced at each other.

"Hide." They nodded. Ron threw open the small cabinet doors under the sink and crawled into the large empty space. He turned his head back, watching Sora drag the wizard with him and into the open cabinet. Ron snapped the cabinet shut, and they waited silently in the dark together. Outside the cramped space they could hear two gruff voices.

The wizards entered the kitchen, speaking clearly for the first time. "Merlin's n' cripes, it's a mess in here." said one. Sora cracked the cabinet open just wide enough to peek out at the dark cloaked wizards. The taller of the two had dirty blond hair that was dirty and oily. His nose had a large bump in it and he had a slight hunch. Sora looked back to Ron, wondering if he too was gagging from the Wizard's odor. Sure enough, Ron had his robe across the lover half of his face, his eyes narrowed as if the foul smell was stinging his eyes.

The shorter wizard, who still stood taller than the unconscious wizard Sora and Ron were sitting on, was part bald. The rest of his hair crowned around his bare skull and was drawn back into a thin ponytail. The short wizard looked about the kitchen quietly, scanning the place with his eyes.

"McClave!" the taller one barked. "_McClave!_"

"Aw, forget it, the drunks probably 'aven a drink at the bar." The other said.

"The two Muggle's were tied up, 'e wouldn't jus' leave 'em without a good thrashin'…" They began walking around the kitchen once again, pushing past pots, pans and avoiding the red sauce that had been spilled. Sora closed the door as they approached the boy's hiding space.

Ron and Sora felt movement from under them, McClave had woken up! Ron was bumped so hard that he was forced forward and pushed through the cabinet door. Luckily, the two wizards were turned in the opposite direction, unaware of the bustling under the cabinet. Ron scurried back and closed the door, waiting for them to leave.

The cabinet snapped shut, grabbing the attention of the Wizards. "What was tha'?" came the gruff voice of the shorter wizard. Sora quickly raised his fist and knocked the man over the head. The blow to the head worked, for the wizard was still once again.

"Dunno… probably a Muggle brat…" the sounds of them approaching was sounded by the pots they were shuffling past. Ron and Sora pressed themselves back against the damp wall of the dark space, avoiding the sink just above their heads. They held their breath as they waited for the inevitable, Ron's wand already pointed out and ready to fire. The cabinet opened, but before Ron and Sora could say or do anything, a large wet rat hopped out of the darkness and onto Sora's lap, jumping out into the light and scurrying away.

"Jus' a rat." Said the taller one. The cabinet was left alone, the light just inches away from revealing Sora's bright yellow shoe. The boys held still unsure of what would happen next. Sora shut his eyes, hoping that the wizards would just leave already, he wanted to avoid a fight at all costs.

"If McClave's smart, 'e's already outta 'ere by now."

"This place is goin' to be cleansed by the Ministry tonigh'? Damn, I though' there was still a bounty."

"Lets get the hell outta 'ere before we get mistaken for Muggles." There were two loud pops and then silence. Ron and Sora opened the cabinets and crawled out, shutting the door behind them. The wizards were gone, all except for McClave who hey had kept under the sink.

"Cleansing?" Ron turned to Sora. "What do you suppose they were talking about, 'cleansing'?"

"Dunno." Sora shrugged. "I've never heard of it, but if it's the Ministry then it has to be bad."

"What do we do now?" Ron asked. "This is a Muggle town, if they're 'cleansing' it wouldn't that mean…?" Sora and Ron became silent, thinking of all the horrible things 'cleansing' might mean.

"I guess we have to protect this town." Sora looked over to Ron. "Think you're up for it?"

"If we fight, then You—Know—Who might catch wind of it and come looking for—"

"Are you in?" Sora urged. It seemed he was clear of the consequences that lay ahead if they were to stand and fight against the Ministry. Ron let out a breath, scratching the back of his head before finally nodding his head with a displeased look. Sora gave him a reassuring smile, then turned and headed out towards the ally way. "Good. I think we should free these Muggle's first and tell the others to—" there came a loud scream from the Muggle waitress that made both boys freeze in shock. Had the 'cleansing' started already? Both boys ran outside for the Muggle's but both the cook and the waitress were gone.

The boy's looked around, Sora running around the corner while Ron remained searching through the trash in case they were just tossed aside. Sora ran around the dark corner of the city, gazing down the street to find that not a soul was around. Sora ducked back into the shadows, hurrying back to Ron.

"They're gone!" Sora exclaimed. "Vanished."

"But how, if they were apperated away we would have heard a pop of some sort."

"And I didn't see anyone walking down the street." Sora added. "I don't know how… but what if this is what they meant by 'cleansing'? Making all the Muggle's disappear…"

"They can't just disappear…" Ron spoke softly, as if horrified by the idea. "Hermione's lectured into my head enough that nothing just disappears, they have to be somewhere."

"Where ever they went, we should get the others to leave the town."

"How are we going to do that?" Ron exclaimed. "Bust in there, wands out, start discussing Ministry politics and why they're being treated like the plague?"

"Yes— no, I don't know but we have to do something! Lets go." Sora rushed back into the pub kitchen, Ron trailing behind him. They burst through the kitchen door and began yelling for everyone to run. The young hero's voices hushed as they looked around the empty pub.

A haunting silence fell over them, they walked further into the empty pub. The beer mugs were still on the table, food half eaten with the knives and forks laid on the floor in a scatter. It were as if people had just gotten up and walked out. A soft wind blew in to the pub from the open door, rustling the curtains that hung down over the windows. The boys searched the pub's booths, behind the bar and even in the dank bathrooms, but found no sign of life.

"It shouldn't be possible…" Ron's voice was barely a whisper. His astonishment over the disappearances was shared by Sora, who was still trying to find some sort of hint, a clue as to what had happened. "Were we… under a spell when it happened? No, we couldn't have been, it's only been a couple of minuets since we left…" he turned from the clock and looked back to Sora. He was over at the table, looking around before he turned back to Ron.

"There's pink stuff around here." He informed. He held up a napkin that had a pink substance on it. Ron turned back, remembering that as he had been searching, he had also seen that same goo on the bar.

"Yea, it's over here too, in this glass." Ron picked up a beer mug that was empty except for the last drops of beer that rimmed around the bottom of the glass, and the pink remains of the liquid on the sides. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's familiar… I think it could be—"

"Wait, what are we doing— the towns people!" and Ron ran out of the pub. Sora watched Ron run out, then looked back to the napkin. He decided to take it with him, turning sharply to follow Ron. He didn't realize that the napkin was stuck under a bowl. The dish clattered to the floor, shattering. Sora turned back surprised, he looked to where the sound had come from. His eyes rested on the shattered clay bowl with pink good oozing off of the shards. Sora watched as the drops began sliding off the glass and collecting together in the center. It moved as if it had a purpose, or a mind of its own, all collecting even when its natural sliding trail would be avoided and turn completely around just to head to the collective. It hardened right before Sora's eyes and now looked like a small pink gem. He wandered over and picked up the small rock and held it in his hand examining it.

"Sora!" he turned around to see Ron standing at the doorway. "Hurry up!"

"Ron, look, a philosophers stone!" He ran over to Ron, who looked at the object.

"What? But how?"

"Cleansing…" Sora thought. Suddenly Ron gasped and grabbed the stone from Sora's hand.

"Chainers! They're making Chainers— here— _now_!"

"We gotta save the towns people." Sora burst out, running out of the pub, leaving Ron to pocket the stone. The boys spilt up, going along the streets and trying to find anyone still walking around. The Muggles they ran into paid no attention to Ron or Sora, calling them trouble makers, and telling them to 'get lost'. Sora ran back over to Ron.

"Did you find anyone?" he asked, hopeful.

"Yea, but they just told me to get lost every time. No one's convinced!"

"This isn't good."

"You're telling me? What do we do?"

"Keep trying." He shrugged. Though not a very solid plan, Ron could only nod in agreement and continue.

The two of them began running down the street together, hopping to run into someone, or something to fight off. The streets were cold and empty, the streetlights hung over them, giving off soft yellow light. The boys ran, side by side, hopping to find anyone who would listen. A couple were walking together, hand in hand and enjoying each other's company. Sora and Ron approached them, out of breath but glad they had fund someone. The man looked to the two boys. "What on earth…"

"Sir," Ron began, "You're in serious danger! You both need to leave the town right now!"

"Excuse me?" he looked to the two of them. "A couple of punks out at night, smelling like beer and smoke, telling us we're in trouble?"

"Huh?" Sora smelled his shirt, realizing that the man was right. He shook his head and looked back to them. "A lot of people have disappeared already, you could be next!"

"Out of my way or I'll call the cops. Come on, dear." He put a hand around his girlfriend and pushed past the two of them.

"Wait, we're warning you!" Sora persisted.

"Is that a threat?" he turned back. The woman turned as well, trying to stop him.

"Wait." She put a hand on his chest. Sora looked to the man, surprised by his sudden outburst.

"No! Of course not!" he defended.

"You punks better get out of my sight before I—"

"Look out!" Ron shouted. He jumped and shoved the man out of the way, as something long and black lunged towards them.

The black creature lunged towards Sora, who only had seconds before he stepped to the side and away from the black beast. The man and Ron hit the ground, looking two what stood on haunches and long thin human-like arms. A Neo-Heartless stood there, a wide, crooked grin spread across it's face, it's lips like that of a jagged carved Jack-o-lantern.

"Chris!" the woman screamed.

"What the hell is that?" the Muggle gaped. Ron got off the man, pointing to the forest as he instructed.

"You both need to run now or you'll be killed!" he watched Chris get back up and run with the girl, both hand in hand. Ron turned back to the Heartless, his wand pointed straight out at it. Sora summoned the Keyblade to his hand and ran at the Heartless.

The fearsome back beast launched up, pushing it's self in the air from its arms and legs and launching over Sora and his Key. It's landed in front of Ron, but moved around him so fast that Ron barely had anytime to react. He turned, watching the Heartless lunge on Chris and force him down on the ground with all its weight. It's claws reached up and grabbed at the man's throat, beginning to envelop the both of them in darkness. The woman's screams echoed through the night air, accompanied only by the snarls and hungry gurgles of the creature. Another Heartless leaped out of the darkness and grabbed the woman, both she and her love were dragged down into the dark abyss the Heartless created. Sora and Ron ran to save them, but were too late. Before they stopped running, Ron tripped in a divot, his chin smacking into the sidewalk. Sora looked down, worried he had been caught by a Heartless.

"Ron!"

"I'm okay, just tripped." He got up, looking down at the deep carvings in the road. Sora's eyes widened as he looked around the streets, noticing the same pattern as the one he himself had tripped in. He turned back to Ron and seized him back up onto his feet.

"It's a transmutation circle! The whole town is going to be transmuted!"

"How can you tell?"

"The divots in the road are forming a pattern, and if the Ministry is making Chainers then this is how they're going to do it. I saw a pattern like this down in the Ministry with Edward and Riku!"

"What do we do?"

"If we go to the center, I bet that's where we'll find everybody." Sora turned to run, but was caught by the arm. He turned back to Ron. "What are you doing."

"If they're all being gathered then it's too late, we have to get out of here!"

"No way, I can't run!"

"We have to, or we'll be Chainers like them."

Sora turned back to Ron, sadness apparent in his blue eyes.

"Give up?" he asked. "But everyone…" he closed his eyes and bit his lower lip. His shoulders went stiff for moments before he let out a breath and turned back to Ron. "Okay. Lets get out of here."

"Good." He nodded. "We'll apperate and meet on that hill out there, that one." He pointed. Sora nodded to him, and Ron waited for him to go first before following shortly after.

The both of them appeared in the darkness of the forest, looking down on the town below. Indeed from this height, and with the aid of the street lights that lit up the town, both boys could clearly see a pattern that made up a transmutation circle. In the middle of the town was a large red, glowing stone, with a large crowd surrounding it. Heartless were surrounding them.

"Eh, if it weren't for all of the chanting we have to go through we'd 'ave fixed this place up hours ago."

Sora and Ron jumped at the sound of a gruff voice. They hid in the bushes together, watching a cloaked man with a metallic mask walk out from the darkness of the forest with another man.

"Indeed, it would be easier if the Alchemist were still alive."

"That's Luciou's voice!" whispered Ron.

"You're right!"

"Shh!"

"Are the Heartless finished with gathering the Muggles?" Asked Lucious.

"Yup. All done."

"And is everyone else in position?"

"Just got word back that everyone is ready."

"I'll leave it to you then."

"Sir." He nodded. Lucious turned and walked away, disappearing with a small 'pop'. The wizard turned back and sent a red flare into the air, followed only seconds after by more red flairs from the borders of the town. The man then waved his wand and pointed it to the town.

"Transmatartum!" the man called out, and a jet of red light streamed from the end of his wand and down to the town below. Ron and Sora could see more red lights in five other directions, all pointed at one of the corners at the large transmutation diagram. Sora closed his eyes, turning his head away from the screams and cries that could be heard. Ron watched in horror. They were to far away to see specifically, as each person and Heartless were combined, and soon the red light from the stone grew blinding, the entire town engulfed in it. Sora almost leapt out from brush, but Ron was quick to grab him and pull him back down. Sora covered his face with his arms, shielding himself from the want to go out and save everyone. Ron looked to him with pity, and then to the town, where the red light was dying out.

"That's that, then." said the Death Eater. "Nothin' more ta do. How the Dark Lord can summon these disgustin' things to 'im is beyond me…" he turned and apperated away. Sora and Ron stood up from the bushes and looked down at the town. The streetlights were out, along with any other lights that had been on before.

"Sora," said Ron. "We should get out of here. We don't want to run into any more Death Eaters. We need a place to hide."

"Hide?" he asked, his gaze remained on the dark town below him. They could hear cries, yells as if the creatures were in horrid pain. The gurgled yelps and wheezy yells silenced the boys for a moment linger. It was everything that Riku and Edward had described, for the Chainers were reaching up to the skies in horrid pain. "How can we hide when this is going on?"

Ron turned to him, frowning.

"What can we do about it?"

"We can fight."

"We can't fight them, they're still part human!"

"Not them," Sora's gaze turned to Ron, showing a vicious glare that he had never seen on Sora's face before. The deep blue eyes held anger and sadness within them, the Keyblade Master was enraged by what he saw. "The Death Eaters."

Ron looked to Sora, stunned.

"B-but…" his words trailed off when he heard another sad moan emit from the town. "How?"

"There are other towns in need, just like this one. Towns that might need to be saved."

Ron sniffed at him and turned his head away from him, turning his back on the town.

"Yea, lot good we did back there to save anyone…"

"We can do something about that." Sora offered. He walked over and grabbed Ron's shoulder. "If Harry and the others are still fighting, don't you think we should to?"

"I'm not going back to—"

"Did I say that? No," he took a step back from Ron, folding his arms. "There are people in trouble, Ron. Harry and the others have their mission, maybe it's time we start our own."

"Start our own…?" Ron looked back to him, he seemed to consider it for a moment before turning back away. "To save other towns we'll have to track the Heartless, right?" he asked, "How will we do that without Riku?"

"I've saved a world or two without Riku before." Sora's frown faltered, letting a small smile trace his lips. He walked over to Ron and slung an arm around his neck. Sora summoned the weapon of light to his hand, as if the sight of it was meant to give Ron the courage he needed to make the right decision. "So separating from everyone else wasn't a good idea," Sora began, his voice hushed, ashamed. "I mean, we did ditch them." Ron listened, feeling a small knot of guilt in the pit of his stomach. "But, Dumbledore did give Harry and Edward a mission— a mission that they have to carry out no matter what if we want to save everyone. They can't do much from where they are, but what we can do is help them by getting as much information as we can."

Ron and Sora's gaze remained on the Keyblade, neither one saying a word. Finally Ron reached out a hand and grasped the dull end of the blade its self. Sora pulled his arm away from around his neck and looked to the serious expression of Ron's face. He could see the new determination in his friend, the spark of adventure that he had never seen Ron possess before.

"Well then, I guess I can't let Harry have all the spotlight, can I?" Ron turned his gaze to Sora. He released the Keyblade from his grasp, yet clenched his fist tightly as if he still were holding onto something. "Where do we start?"

888

Harry woke up the next morning, for a second he had believed the whole incident yesterday to be nothing more than a nightmare, but the sinking feeling in his gut told him otherwise. He sat up in his cot and looked to where Ron usually slept only to find it empty. He turned to see Edward still curled up in his cot, his back facing him and lying very still as he slept. Harry's eyes cast downward to the ground, shamefully and said nothing.

Once more, like so many times before, everyone helped pack and then they all apperated away together. They landed in a very cold part of southern England, snow had begun to fall shortly after their arrival. The days only got shorter and colder for everyone. Luckily, though Edward was now considered a 'hostage', he'd still help with the little things such as packing up the tent or helping Hermione cook. Whether it was because Edward feared the wizard's wands or not Harry didn't know. He would try and make a comment or two in Edward's direction but all that ever resulted was either a sarcastic remark or the start of an argument.

Harry turned to Edward, who sat in his cot with the covers wrapped around his chest and his left leg. The cold air seemed to make Edward uncomfortable but he had said nothing.

"Cold?" Harry asked, thickly. Edward looked up from the floor and narrowed his eyes back at him.

"It is snowing, isn't it?"

"I mean are _you_ cold?"

"I know what you said."

"Whatever then…" he turned back. He noticed that Hermione had glanced nervously over her shoulder at them before turning back to her book.

Hermione silently studied the book, looking for any hint or clue that Dumbledore had given them. She read the passages, trying to find if anything relates to their mission. As she sat, Riku walked over and leaned against the back of the chair that she sat in, looking down to the book she held.

"Found anything?" he asked her. Hermione shook her head and looked up to him.

"Nothing. I can't understand what Dumbledore could have wanted."

"I'm sure something is in there. Need any help?"

Hermione gave him a tiered smile and shook her head, leaning back in the chair.

"I don't think so. I just have to keep trying."

Riku smiled back and turned to go over towards Edward. He saw that the Alchemist was eyeing him, but said nothing as he approached him.

"So how is being a _dead hostage_ going for you?"

"Wonderfully." He muttered darkly. He began rubbing his left leg, just above the knee. He wore a pained expression as he tried to warm up his flesh.

"What's the matter?" he asked. Edward paused, hesitating to tell him for a moment, but figured that Riku was more or less on everyone's side and that he wouldn't try and bring up an argument.

"It's just really cold. The automail is making my leg and my shoulder really ache."

Harry turned back in his chair to look to Edward just then. He looked at though he were about to say something, but he quickly looked back ahead of him and went silent once more. Riku looked from Edward to Harry with his eyes alone, silently wondering what Harry might have said. He merely raised and eyebrow and continued talking to Edward.

"How much does it hurt?"

"It's not that bad, it's just like that feeling when you hold ice in your hands for too long."

"Perhaps we should have a look," came the voice of Hermione. "We wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Once more Harry turned to watch, but this time he didn't attempt to say anything. His green eyes rested dully on the scene of Hermione walking over to the boys. Edward reluctantly opened his shirt enough to show them where the metal merged with his flesh.

"It's red," observed Hermione. She touched his chest and frowned. "And icy cold."

"It's not that bad." said Edward.

"You're automail never did this before at Hogwarts." she worried.  
"There was a fireplace and food to warm me up," Edward shrugged his shirt and jacket back on. "And if we did go out it wouldn't be for as long as we have been out in the cold."

"You could have said that this would have happened," said Harry. Everyone looked over, surprised to hear him say anything. Edward frowned at him.

"What do you care? I'm a _hostage_." He mocked. Edward found the whole idea to be ridiculous. It wasn't as though he was at anyone's mercy, least of all Harry's.

"I don't," Harry spat back, "It's just annoying to have to drag you around."

"That's a laugh! Who's dragging who, half the time?"

Enraged and embarrassed, Harry shot him a glare.

"Who had to save you from the Dementors not but a week ago?"

Edward laughed.

"Oh don't even start with that _crap_. The first time I get caught off guard in four years of standing in front of you and suddenly I'm useless?"

"Be quiet, the both of you!" Hermione roared out. Everyone looked to her, her gaze hardened and angry. "I can't stand it! All you two ever do is argue, and over what— nothing!" she snapped. "Grow up! We have bigger problems now!" and with that she turned away and stormed back to the red chair.

The boys sat in silence, no one moving for a moment until Riku finally got up and walked away, muttering as he went. Edward watched him leave and just looked back down to the ground, clutching the blanket to his cold skin even tighter.

Hours quietly crept past them, each one seeming to last longer and longer. Finally, Harry decided to disrupt the silence with his thoughts on where they should go next. He turned his head about, looking to where everyone sat, minding their own business. Hermione was back on the red chair, book in hand and studying every page. Before he could call to her, as if on cue, she turned to Harry and beckoned him to her.

"Harry, have a look at this." She said. Still a bit wary about Hermione's current temper Harry approached her without argue or question. He stood by her side and bent over to she what she was pointing at. "What does this look like to you?" she asked.

"That?" he wondered. "A doodle I think… of an eye."

"Yes, that's what I think as well. At first I thought it was apart of the lettering decoration but the more I looked at it the more it looked out of place."

"I think I've seen that somewhere before."

"Really?"

At that, Riku turned from where he lay on his cot and wandered over to them. As Harry tried hard to remember, Riku instantly recognized it.

"That's Grindlewald's mark." He realized.

She stared at him openmouthed.

"_What?_"

"Krum told me…" he recounted what he had been told by him. Hermione looked astonished.

"_Grindlewald's _mark?" she looked from Riku, to the weird symbol and back again. "I've never heard that Grindlewald had a mark. There's no mention of it in anything I've ever read about him."

"Krum seemed to think it was. He said he saw it carved on a wall in Drumstang and the legend says that Grindlewald put it there."

"That's very odd. If it's a symbol of Dark Magic, what's it doing in a book of children's stories?"

"Hey, Ed," called Riku. Edward was still on his cot, blankets up to his nose and giving small shivers. He looked over, eyeing him. "You've been listening, right?"

"Why is there going to be a test?" he snapped.

"Come over here and see if this symbol looks like anything you've seen before."

With that, Edward kicked and pushed off the covers and walked over to where they, standing behind the red chair and looking down at the book. The symbol was a triangle with a small circle within it and a line that ran from the inner point of the triangle to it's base. Sure, many transmutation circles looked similar to this design, but none of them stuck out or were like the symbol Edward was studying. He let out a breath and leaned against the chair.

"Sorry, haven't seen that before."

"So it isn't alchemy then…" Hermione hummed. "I thought for sure… I wonder what it is then."  
Edward pulled him self off the red chair and turned to go back to the cot.

"Everyone," came the voice of Harry. They looked to him, Edward stopping in his tracks to glance back at him. "I've been thinking. I— I want to, I mean I think we should all go to Godric's Hollow." He looked to their faces, gauging their response. Hermione was looking to him thoughtfully, yet her eyes were glazed over, causing Harry to wonder if she was still wondering about that strange mark.

"Yes." She said, "Yes, I've been wondering that too. I really think we have to."

"We do?" asked Riku and Edward.

"Did you hear me right?" asked Harry, tentatively.

"Of course I did," she sat up straighter, "You want to go to Godric's Hollow. I agree, I think we should. I mean, I can't think of anywhere else it could be either. It'll be dangerous but the more I think about it, the more likely it seems to be there."

Before Harry could ask, Edward was quick to speak up.

"What, what's there?"

She turned back to Edward, missing the bewildered look Harry wore on his face.

"The sword, Gryffindor's sword." She turned back to Harry and continued. "Dumbledore must have known you'd want to go back there, and I mean, Godric's Hollow is Godric Gryffindor's birth place."

"Really? Gryffindor came from Godric's Hollow?"

"Harry, did you ever even open _A History of Magic_?"

"Erm," he smiled a bit, the first one since Ron and Sora had left. He could see Riku giving him a small playful smirk and a cocked eyebrow, and Edward a small curve of his lips before heading back to his cot. Hermione shook her head with her own smile and stood up, placing the book aside.

"Well, if we are to go there I should think we should prepare first."

"For what?"

"Well if Dumbledore knew you'd go there then there might be Death Eaters there as well. I'll make up some Poly Juice Potions, we should start practicing with the invisibility cloak together, and…"

"I thought you were out of Poly Juice potion?" said Riku. Hermione turned to him and gave a nod.

"I am, but only with one ingredient. A few days ago I went and found what I needed in the forest."

"How?" asked Harry. She frowned at him and crossed her arms.

"It seems you didn't pay that much attention in Herbology and Potions class either."

Edward leaned forward on his cot and looked to the witch and wizards standing together.

"Once we're in Godric's Hollow, do we have a clue as to where Dumbledore might have hidden the sword?"

Harry thought for a moment, then gave a small nod. "You remember what Muriel said?" he asked eventually.

"Who?" asked Hermione.

"You know," he hesitated: he did not want to say Ron's name. "Ginny's great-aunt. The one who said you had skinny ankles."

"Oh,"

Harry pressed on before the mood of a lost friend could set in all over again.

"She said that Bathilda Bagshot still lives in Godric's Hollow."

"Hmm… I suppose it might be possible…" she mused, "She was the author of _A History of Magic_…"

"He could have hidden it with her." Nodded Riku. "But isn't she suppose to be extremely old?"

"If all we can do is give really good hunches, then I say we go in to find out what's really there." Said Edward. They looked to him, surprised. Edward had that look in his eyes, one that Harry would know well. He was psyching up for the mission ahead, getting ready to infiltrate. He hadn't seen that look since the day they had infiltrated the mansion. Those golden orbs were gleaming with determination. About what, Harry couldn't say. He had an odd suspicion that Edward was searching for something as well. Perhaps, her thought, that it was just his own hidden desire coming though, for the announcement to got to Godric's Hollow wasn't for the sword or even for a Horcrux. He wanted to go home, to see his own place of birth and visit his own parents. He could hear Hermione and Riku planning with one another, trying to drag him back to their conversation. For that moment, he and Edward were staring at each other, as if trying to figure out what the other one was thinking at that moment.

"What do you think Harry?" Hermione asked. He tuned away from Edward and once more got involved with their conversation. Edward watched them, his fingers laced and pressed against his mouth as he wondered quietly to himself. He hadn't mentioned it to them before, for fear of them misinterpreting the meaning behind his words. The symbol looked like the base for making the Philosopher's Stone; a triangle, a small square within it, and a tiny circle within the square. In the wizarding world the way their transmutation circles worked was different than his own, it worked with their power rather than Edward. He was wondering quietly if the object of his desire, his life long search, would likely end at that place. What was Grindlewald's mark? What did it mean? He had to find out, he had to search for the answers to see if it had anything to do with Alchemy.

((There ya go Ron fans, some good more redeeming scenes for the guy. He's not a useless character at all, he can just be a prat sometimes! And look see, I'm still keeping to the story! If any of you have already guessed how Sora got there, then good on ya! If not, you'll see. Laterz, remember to review! D ))


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